"Juliette said Santa Cruz city's fire department was first on the scene, followed by the Santa Cruz County Fire Department and additional cooperating agencies, including Stanford Life Flight, CalStar, the UC Santa Cruz Police Department and the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office. As firefighters were preparing a rescue plan, one of the people in the tree fell. During the fall, the individual hit around 50 feet worth of tree branches, Juliette said, which she noted "may have helped to slow the fall.""
"The final 30 feet down was a "free fall" that ended in a landing in deep redwood duff - the tree litter that accumulates over the years - which may have cushioned their fall, Juliette said. An air ambulance was able to land right at the scene to extricate the injured tree climber, a man believed to be in his early 20s, and airlift him directly to a trauma center."
Two people became trapped high in a redwood tree near the UC Santa Cruz campus after one climber became stuck at about 80 feet and a second person climbed up to help and also became stuck. Calls came in at 4:01 p.m. for the incident in the cow pasture across from Heller. Santa Cruz City Fire, Santa Cruz County Fire and multiple cooperating agencies including Stanford Life Flight, CalStar, UC Santa Cruz Police and the county sheriff responded. One climber fell, striking roughly 50 feet of branches before a final 30-foot free fall into deep redwood duff that may have cushioned the landing. An air ambulance landed on scene and airlifted the injured man to a trauma center; his condition at time of transport was not available.
Read at SFGATE
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