Rescuers on snowmobiles retrieved three people Sunday who got stranded as they tried to walk out of their wooded cabin home off Fivemile Road after running out of propane and fuel.
A man reported Sunday morning just before 11 a.m. that he, his father and his 8-year-old daughter tried walking out of their snowed-in mountain cabin but got about 100 yards in the four feet of snow when the 69-year-old father, who has a medical condition, fell and they couldn’t get him up, according to the sheriff’s log and Wasco County Sheriff’s Deputy Clint Steen.
The home is about four or five miles up a driveway just off Dutch Flat Road, where it intersects with Upper Fivemile Road, Steen said.
The man reported that a neighbor had tried to plow the long driveway, but it was too deep for his equipment, according to the sheriff’s log.
The man reported to dispatchers that his daughter was in snow gear, but he and his father weren’t very warmly dressed. He said he was wearing a hoodie and sweats and uninsulated work gloves.
Steen said the man was able to get a tarp beneath his father, who was leaning against a snow bank, and the daughter went back to the cabin and got four or five blankets to put on her grandfather.
“She’s quite the trouper,” Steen said.
The man reported the hill was too steep to pull his dad back up to the cabin on the tarp. About 30 minutes after he first reported their predicament, he said it was starting to snow.
The man reported another 30 minutes later that his dad was just beginning to get chilly and was shaking, but breathing normally. He was wearing socks on his hands to help warm them up.
Steen said there was no way a patrol car could go up the driveway, since it was several feet of unplowed snow on miles of road.
The snowmobile team of the search and rescue unit of the sheriff’s office was mobilized and staged at the base of the long driveway where it left Dutch Flat Road, Steen said.
They brought four snowmobiles, which belong to the sheriff’s office, and drove up to rescue the trio. A Dufur medic was also brought along on the snowmobiles to assess the fallen man, he said.
They arrived to pick them up at about 2:30 p.m., three and a half hours after the man first called.
One snowmobile was towing a sled to carry out the ill man, Steen said. The younger man and the daughter were able to ride out on the back of two other snowmobiles.
Steen said it took about an hour from the time the snowmobiles arrived to bring the trio back down to the staging area.
An ambulance was waiting at the staging area to take the older man to the hospital. Neighbors drove the other man and his daughter to the hospital.
The Chronicle tried to contact the man for comment, but he did not return a call or a text.
Steen saw the older man at the hospital and he was awake and alert.
While it is unusual to rescue people stranded at their homes, Steen said a more common occurrence is to rescue people stuck in the snow in their vehicles.
A weekend earlier, search and rescue snowmobiles were also used to rescue stranded motorists, he said.
The Wasco County Search and Rescue (SAR for short) is an all-volunteer organization serving under the direction of the county sheriff.
Most of the required equipment is provided (as a loan) to individual members by the sheriff's department.
Volunteers spend 20 or more hours per month in SAR-related activities.
Members are required to stay current with Red Cross certifications in First Aid and CPR, pass a written test, and complete field exercises with map, compass and GPS.
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