12/15/2025
This is a post copied from Wintergreen Fire and Rescue. Our volunteers were part of the search team that got this injured hiker out. Many thanks to all involved!! Between hunting season and hikers, it's been a busy month! Please be sure if you're venturing out to have an emergency plan, make sure others know your route and approximate times for coming out, and have self emergency supplies! Stay safe!
"Today we were a part of an amazing team who rescued an injured hiker in Augusta County. The patient was able to get a "text to 911" message out. If if weren't for that message going through, the outcome of the call would have surely have been different.
This will be a long post. Apologies in advance.
Our crews were notified of this incident at 05:41. The Blue Ridge Parkway is closed and covered with snow and ice. This forced an indirect response route which nearly doubled our response time. Patient contact didn't occur until nearly 09:00. For the first time we can recall, our crews opted to build a fire and warm the patient prior to beginning the trek out. The wind-chills were sub-zero, and desperate times call for desperate measures.
Because the exact location wasn't known from the initial text, Nelson Dispatch notified the Virginia Department of Emergency Management for a Search and Rescue team. The SAR volunteers arrived throughout the morning and remained at the command post. Also requested was the Virginia Sate Police aviation unit from Chesterfield to winch the patient out of the forest. The helicopter arrived and tried a few times to get into position for a hoist, however strong wind gusts caused them to abort the mission.
The Virginia Army Guard dispatched a Blackhawk (HART) team, also from Chesterfield. They launched at approximately 13:00. By this point we were 8 hours into this call and feared that we could end up working in darkness, just as we began in darkness. I decision was made to send all of the VDEM SAR volunteers into the forest to join up with teams already working to extract the patient. The team was also provided terrific support by the Virginia Department of Forestry, who may or may not have used chainsaws to improve our egress path through the national forest. With 32 people deployed on the trail, patient extraction shifted into a higher gear. The team reached the Parkway just as the HART team was arriving.
The patient was transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The total call duration exceeded 10 hours.
Apparatus assigned to this incident:
Wintergreen Squad 1
Wintergreen Response 61 - Command (Lt Moser)
Wintergreen Response 62
Wintergreen Response 171 - ATV- 1
Wintergreen Response 174 - ATV -2
Wintergreen Response 63
Wintergreen Rehab 60
Wintergreen Chief 61
Wintergreen Admin 1
Wintergreen Dispatch Center
NEMS Ambulance 93
NEMS Response 94
Montebello Fire Chief 70
Piney River Fire Salvage 23 - ATV
Nelson County Dispatch
Nelson County Emergency Management
Wilson Fire Department Support 196
Virginia Department of Forestry - Forestry 1
Augusta County Emergency Management
Augusta County Fire Battalion 11 / EMS 2
Virginia Department of Emergency Management - SAR team
United States Park Police - Ranger
United Sates Department of Interior - Road Maintenance Team"
