A 9-year-old girl suffered a deep wound to her right leg after a fall at the Red Mountain Agate Beds north of Cle Elum on Saturday, prompting a multi-agency wilderness rescue that ended with an airlift to a Seattle trauma center. Emergency dispatchers received a panicked 911 call from the girl's parents at approximately 1:24 p.m., setting off a response that would ultimately involve roughly 30 emergency responders working across rugged, exposed terrain.
According to The Mirror, acting lieutenant Erin Meador of Kittitas County Fire District 7 described the injury. Responders dispatched to the hiking trail had to hike approximately 2 miles into rugged terrain to reach and stabilize the child, the outlet reported. As detailed by Apple Valley News Now, the response drew in Kittitas County Fire District 7, the Kittitas County Sheriff's Office, Kittitas County Search and Rescue, the United States Forest Service, and Upper Kittitas County Medic One, all mobilizing to reach the injured child at the remote site.
A Two-Mile Hike Into Rugged Terrain
Once on scene, responders loaded the child onto a medical helicopter after hiking several miles to reach her, per the same account from Apple Valley News Now. Airlift Northwest conducted the aerial evacuation, landing nearby before transporting the girl to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle for trauma care, according to The Mirror's reporting. The child is recovering from serious injuries, fire officials said, though further details on her condition have not been released.
The terrain that complicated the rescue is part of what draws visitors to the area in the first place. Red Top Trail, officially Trail #1364.1, sits in the Cle Elum Ranger District of the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest along an exposed ridge top leading to public agate beds and a 1952 fire lookout tower, according to the U.S. Forest Service. The rock-hounding site is a popular draw for families, with steep, exposed ridge terrain.
How the Rescue Call Moved Through the System
KITTCOM 911 was notified for this incident, KIRO 7 News Seattle reported, citing statements from Kittitas County Fire District 7. The response involved county fire districts, sheriff's deputies, volunteer search-and-rescue units, and federal forest rangers. That district, based in Cle Elum, serves a 126-square-mile area with 21 full-time firefighters and 47 volunteers, and it handled 851 total calls in 2025, including 439 emergency medical service calls, per its own response statistics.
Kittitas County Search and Rescue assisted in the effort, and the Kittitas County Sheriff's Office provides information about the county's search-and-rescue program.
A Region Familiar With High-Stakes Air Rescues
The rescue involved an Airlift Northwest medical helicopter operation in Kittitas County.
The rescue also adds to emergency response activity in Upper Kittitas County. No update on the girl's condition beyond the initial description of serious injuries has been released, and the exact circumstances of her fall have not been detailed by officials.
