Helicopter saves hikers stranded by fire

By Steve Hubrecht steve@columbiavalleypioneer.com

A trio of Columbia Valley residents were rescued off the top of Mount Bruce last week after they were stranded by the rapid outbreak of the Horsethief Creek wildfire.

Sage Randle, Ida von Huth Smith and Malte Hjortkjaer left to hike Mount Bruce on the morning of Monday, July 24. After driving up the long winding logging road to the trailhead, they started up the trail under crystal clear blue skies at about 11:30 a.m.

The three made their way quickly up the short but steep hike, arriving at the summit cairn about an hour to 1.5 hours after setting out. They sat at the top for 30 minutes or so, eating lunch and enjoying the panoramic views over the valley bottom below.

They turned and began down the trail, but as they made their way along the summit plateau they saw a small, barely noticeable plume of smoke rising up from beyond the edge of plateau, seemingly coming from the north slope of Mount Bruce, right where the hiking trail is.

“At first we weren’t sure what it was. We thought it might be a dust storm,” Randle told the Pioneer. “But within 10 minutes it went from ‘what is this?’ to ‘holy, it’s a fire and it’s huge’.

The fire continued to grow rapidly, with the smoke cloud mushrooming before their eyes. There was no question of trying go down the trail.

“At first I didn’t know what to do. How serious was our situation? I really didn’t want to be the kind of person that calls 911 when you really don’t need to. So I tried calling two other people in town to see if they knew what was happening. But neither one answered.”

So Randle began to dial 911 and to explain the situation. But before she had a chance to finish describing the group’s predicament, a private helicopter belonging to Glacier Helicopters circled in close. The group waved for help.

“They (the helicopter pilot and passenger) later explained they had been out checking something else, another wildfire I think. They spotted the fire on Mount Bruce and our car, and they came to see if we needed help,” said Randle.

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