HIKER RESCUED IN NATIONAL PARK

Rescuers worked for six hours Thursday to free a teenager who became wedged in rocks while scrambling in Joshua Tree National Park. 911 received a call at 4:49 p.m. that a 17-year-old hiker was stuck in the Johnson Canyon area of the Park. Rescuers from the Twentynine Palms Fire Department, Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat Center Fire and Rescue, the National Park Service, Morongo Basin Ambulance, and volunteers tried for six hours to free the teen using a ropes and pulleys to relieve the pressure on the teen’s chest, which was wedged between the rocks. The boy’s hips and legs were hanging free. Unfortunately, the block and tackle system didn’t work, and so the Combat Center fire and rescue brought in a pneumatic chisel to successfully free the boy. The teen was able to walk out on his own, with only minor scrapes and bruises.