A weekend hike along the Batteries-to-Bluffs trail turned into a cliffside rescue yesterday when a hiker near Battery Crosby became unable to walk and had to be carried out by San Francisco Fire Department crews. Firefighters loaded the person into a rescue basket, hauled them to street level, and transferred the patient to a fire department ambulance for transport to a hospital.
How crews reached the patient
Photos shared by the department show firefighters setting up a high-angle rescue, securing the hiker in a basket, then carrying the patient up the bluff to the roadway. Crews initiated the basket rescue and arranged for a San Francisco Fire Department ambulance to take the person to the hospital, and the post includes several images from the scene, according to the San Francisco Fire Department.
Battery Crosby's hazards and past rescues
Battery Crosby sits on a particularly rugged stretch of the Presidio coastline along the Batteries-to-Bluffs trail, a scenic spot that has also seen multiple high-angle rescues in recent years because of its steep, unstable terrain. City crews handle dozens of cliff and coastal rescues every year, and public-safety reporting and fire-department briefings have repeatedly urged hikers to stick to marked routes and steer clear of cliff edges, according to KQED.
Officials urge caution
Fire officials regularly remind the public that the Presidio headlands can be hazardous and that anyone who is injured or stranded on the bluffs should call 9-1-1. Local reporting has also encouraged hikers to carry water, wear sturdy footwear, and avoid unofficial social paths that creep toward the cliff edge, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
