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<p class=MsoNormal><span class=articledate><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Article Launched:
08/05/2006 04:27:18 AM PDT</span></font></span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<span class=articletitle><!-- overline--><!--title-->Rescue on the river</span><br>
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<span class=articlebyline><o:p></o:p></span></span></font></b></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><span class=articlebyline><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>John Driscoll The
Times-Standard</span></font></span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><a
href="http://www.times-standard.com/local/ci_4140796">http://www.times-standard.com/local/ci_4140796</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Firefighters
pull injured man from Trinity gorge <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>When he
was hopping from rock to rock along the <st1:place w:st="on">Trinity River</st1:place>
1,100 feet below Burnt Ranch Campground, Dave Nicolls didn't feel far from
his family above. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>But
when Nicolls took one wrong step and fell about 4 feet onto his hip, he may
as well have been a world away. Thanks to the help of firefighters on hand to
fight fires in the Denny area, Nicolls narrowly escaped dehydration and
exhaustion, which threatened to incapacitate him. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Nicolls,
38, of <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Redding</st1:place></st1:City>
had made the steep descent to the river to go fishing, as he'd done a hundred
times before. He left at 6:30 a.m. on Thursday. He took a trail posted as not
maintained, reaching the big boulders in the turbulent stretch of river. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>In a
Friday phone interview, Nicolls said he fished briefly, then walked up river
toward a better fishing hole. He had to leap from rock to rock, when he lost
his footing and fell onto his hip. Using the adrenaline from knowing he was
hurt, he tried to climb up the steep sides of the canyon, trying to convince
himself that he could get back to camp. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>”In
my mind, I didn't think it was that bad,” Nicolls said. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>He soon
had to quit. The heat and the sun was quickly dehydrating him, he was in
severe pain and bees were being annoyingly aggressive. He began to yell, and
kept yelling for hours, until his voice was hoarse. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Nicolls
said he's been in tight spots before. But six years ago, he had a bout with
cancer that left him weaker than he was in his younger years. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>”Every
time I went to move I just ended up in a worse position,” Nicolls said.
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Back at
camp, Nicolls' fiancée and daughter were getting nervous. At 1:30 p.m. they
walked to the Bar Complex fire information office to call the Trinity County
Sheriff's Department. They got more help than they could have expected.
Firefighters and professional rescuers at the office began to learn what was
happening. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Fire
medic Scott McKenney, communications unit leader Clay Flad and <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Shasta-Trinity</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">National Forest</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> resource advisor Larry
McLean set out to look for Nicolls. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>More
than an hour later, Flad heard a faint voice. He worked closer to the voice
and at 3:00 p.m. found Nicolls about 150 feet from the river. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>With
about a dozen rescuers on hand, the crews set up two rope and pulley systems
to haul Nicolls -- secured to a litter -- up the first 200 feet. They
attached the litter to the second rope system and hauled the 185-pound
Nicolls another 600 feet, to where rescuers could carry him the rest of the
way. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Flad --
who has been teaching rope rescue techniques for six years -- said that the
rescue took about an hour. It came none too soon. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>”There's
no way he could have gotten out of there without assistance,” Flad
said. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>In all,
people from 12 different agencies worked together to pull off the rescue. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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