Injured bear hunter successfully rescued
Tuesday night at approximately 5 p.m. Haywood County received notice that a local bear hunter, Richard Warren, had been injured in a fall above Sunburst campground off of Lake Logan Road.
Lake Logan-Cecil Volunteer Fire Department and Haywood County EMS were initially dispatched and upon assessing the situation, requested additional technical rescuers and resources, including the Haywood County Search and Rescue team, as well as additional regional teams.
Getting Warren from the location of his initial injury back up to a trail where he was eventually transported to the hospital by helicopter was a highly technical rescue effort, in the dark, involving over 900 feet of rope haul lines and pulleys. Two responders were injured in the rescue process and were treated and released at the scene.
Multiple factors including patient condition, responder safety, terrain, weather, and time of day went into the decision to call for air support.
The Tennessee National Guard helicopter team provided mutual aid to assist the North Carolina National Guard with the extraction of the patient via a UH60 black-hawk helicopter out of McGee Tyson AFB.
About 60 rescuers and responders from Lake Logan-Cecil Volunteer Fire Department, Cruso Fire and Rescue, Haywood Rescue Squad/SAR, Haywood County Emergency Services, Asheville Fire Department, Buncombe County Rescue Squad, Henderson County Rescue Squad, Jackson County Rescue Squad, Cherokee Fire Department, Transylvania County Rescue Squad, Transylvania County Emergency Management, US Park Service, North Carolina Emergency Management, North Carolina National Guard, Tennessee National Guard, Tennessee Emergency Management, were involved in the extensive rescue effort that lasted all night.
The final rescue teams were checked back in safely around 7 a.m. Wednesday morning.
