Two snowmobilers rescued after one crashes into Fall Creek
Two Bend men out on a snowmobile ride Thursday afternoon called for rescue near the Green Lakes Trailhead after one crashed his machine into Fall Creek and the other was hurt while helping him in the water, authorities said.
Deschutes County 911 dispatchers got a call shortly before 2 p.m. from one of the two men, both in their 40s, saying he had crashed his snowmobile into Fall Creek just north of Century Drive (Highway 372) and suffered a non-life-threatening injury when it rolled onto him, said sheriff’s Deputy Josh Westfall, assistant search and rescue coordinator.
The man said his snowmobile partner also had sustained a non-life-threatening injury while assisting him in the creek, Westfall said. The caller said both men would need help in getting out of the backcountry to seek medical attention.
A half-dozen Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue volunteers, two deputies and three U.S. Forest Service law enforcement personnel responded to help the men.
Westfall said one of the SAR volunteers happened to be in the area snowmobiling and headed to the crash scene, arriving around 2:30 p.m.
The volunteer helped the pair out of the creek and stabilized and warmed them as much as possible until the others arrived just over an hour later, the deputy said.
The two men were taken by snowmobile and ambu-sled back to the Dutchman Flat parking area, where Bend Fire Department personnel were waiting. One of the men was taken by ambulance to St. Charles Bend and the other declined transport, Westfall said.
