June 18, 2023 - Plumas County Sheriff's Office officials report that on June 16, 2023, near midnight, Northern Division Air Operations received a request from Plumas County Sheriff's Office to assist with a rescue of a powerline worker who had activated an SOS rescue beacon from the Bucks Creek power station in the Feather River canyon, along Highway 70. The site is part of a long-term construction project related to the penstocks that feed the power station.  At approximately 9:00 PM a worker had fallen and sustained a head injury and injuries to a lower limb.  It took nearly two hours for a site supervisor to hike to the victim, determine the need for help, and then hike to a spot to activate an emergency beacon.  The beacon sent GPS coordinates to an area on the steep canyon wall above the power station adjacent to the penstocks. H-14 responded to the area and located the victim, with what appeared to be several other workers hiking to the site.  It was determined that due to the nature of the injuries, and due to the terrain, a hoist rescue would be required to get the victim to medical aid.  The site is across the Feather River from Highway 70, meaning there is no immediate road access for ground resources to reach the site.  CHP policy prohibits hoist rescues at night, so the crew of H-14 provided the location and situation updates to Plumas SO before returning to Redding. 

A first-light callout for H-14 was initiated on June 17.  H-14 arrived, with a new crew, to the location at 0615 hours.  H-14 used the hoist to lower rescue equipment to personnel at the incident site.  The victim was secured in the rescue equipment and hoisted up to the helicopter, and then flown to a staging area at Rodgers Flat where an awaiting air ambulance took over care and transport of the victim to a trauma center.

The construction project had emergency plans in place that included pre-planning and training with Plumas County SAR, the contractors at the site, and Northern Division Air Ops.

Thank you, Plumas County Search and Rescue and CHP - Northern Division Air Operations for your service! We appreciate all you do, especially for the citizens and guests of Plumas County!

View video here.

Source: Plumas County Sheriff's Office