Drones Help in Finding Hiker Lacking for 3 Days in California
August 22, 2025
The US is residence to 84 million acres, about 131,250 sq. miles, of nationwide parks. Every year, tons of of people go lacking inside these parks, with estimates pointing to round 1,600 lively lacking individual circumstances. When somebody goes lacking within the wilderness, each minute issues. Environmental situations equivalent to excessive warmth, freezing temperatures, or quickly altering climate can drastically scale back survival time. In recent times, drone know-how has change into a game-changer in search and rescue operations. Compact, agile, and outfitted with thermal and high-resolution cameras, drones now give responders an aerial vantage level that permits them to cowl tough terrain rapidly and safely whereas directing floor groups with larger precision.
In September 2023, a drone was used to find a lacking hiker within the San Gabriel Mountains north of Los Angeles. Deputies from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Division deployed an unmanned aerial automobile (UAV), and inside about ten minutes of launching, the drone’s dwell video feed revealed the hiker perched on a ledge 200 ft down a steep cliff the place floor groups couldn’t simply attain. Given the hiker’s precarious location, it’s possible he wouldn’t have been present in time with out the drone.
The division used a DJI Matrice 300 outfitted with a thermal imaging digicam and zoom lens. In line with Deputy David Nieto, who piloted the plane, “The drone gave us the power to see into areas that might have taken hours for floor crews to achieve, and it saved helpful time in bringing the hiker to security.” This is only one of many situations through which businesses throughout the nation have more and more adopted drones in emergencies, contributing to a gradual rise in profitable restoration missions because the know-how continues to evolve.
Since 2013, the state of California has reported greater than 1,500 lacking individuals inside its 6,300 sq. miles of nationwide parks. The state has additionally change into a pioneer in how drone know-how is utilized by police and emergency providers. On August 18, 2025, a hiker went lacking close to the North Fork of the American River in California’s rugged Euchre Bar space. The person despatched a misery textual content to 911, stating he was misplaced in steep terrain with out meals or water. Regardless of dispatchers’ efforts, they might not reestablish contact. Nonetheless, they had been in a position to get hold of approximate GPS coordinates of his location. Deputies from the Placer County Sheriff’s Workplace (PCSO) discovered the hiker’s automobile on the trailhead, and a complete search ensued.
The Sheriff’s Workplace, together with assist from allied businesses, dispatched greater than 50 search-and-rescue personnel, together with K9 groups, helicopters, floor crews, dive groups, and drones. Among the many aerial sources deployed had been DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise (M2E) Twin drones, light-weight, moveable, and easy-to-use plane which have change into a favourite amongst emergency personnel. In 2018, when emergency departments had been first embracing drone know-how, the Joshua Hearth Division in Texas started counting on the benefits provided by the Mavic 2.
When a hearth broke out at an deserted home that rapidly unfold to surrounding dry grass, Chief Baker of the Joshua Hearth Division stated the drone made all of the distinction in quickly assessing and addressing the scenario. “We had been in a position to put out the grass hearth in half-hour,” he stated. “The M2E Twin’s thermal aerial imagery gave us good imaginative and prescient of what was on hearth and methods to entry the burning areas rapidly.” Years later, because the PCSO demonstrated, the M2E stays a robust software for emergency responders.
The drone performed a vital position in serving to the PCSO get well the stranded hiker. The drone’s thermal imaging digicam quickly scanned inaccessible areas of Euchre Bar. This allowed rescuers to cancel searches in sure areas and higher allocate sources to different zones to find the person. He was ultimately discovered by the dive group alongside the riverbank. After a three-day search, the hiker was drained, thirsty, and hungry, however in any other case protected, in response to an announcement from the PCSO. “We wish to ship an enormous thanks to all of the volunteer Search and Rescue group members, together with a number of from allied businesses. They devoted numerous hours over a number of days to look in extraordinarily difficult terrain,” the assertion continued. “Their dedication and experience had been instrumental in bringing this case to a constructive end result.”
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