Article, Photography & Video by Scott Limpus and Bryan Keenan
November 10, 2018
At 2:27 pm on Saturday, a call was made to 9-1-1 reporting a traffic accident with unknown injuries on Highway 330 at the City Creek Ranger Station. The California Highway Patrol dispatched a unit at 2:30 pm to check the area, but no evidence of an accident was found. The CHP made several attempts to call back the reporting party (RP). CHP continued to search the area, and the RP was eventually reached and provided additional information.
The RP stated that on their way up the hill they saw dust blowing on the highway between mile markers 35 and 36 and felt that maybe somebody might have driven their vehicle over the side. That area of the highway has a steep drop off into the City Creek drainage on the south of the highway. With no obvious evidence of the accident, the officers on scene requested their airship, H80, to respond and provide an aerial search.
One CHP unit positioned himself in the turnout near mile marker 35 and another officer positioned himself in a turnout near mile marker 36, and H80 searched the canyon between the two spots. H80 soon found a vehicle at the bottom of the canyon and hovered as low as they could to make an identification of the vehicle, a blue Toyota Tundra with major damage. Two officers attempted to climb down to the vehicle but the terrain was too steep, so a decision was made to have the fire department access the vehicle to determine the status of the vehicle and any potential victims.
At 3:56 pm, San Bernardino County Fire was dispatched to the scene. Arriving units included Medic Engine 91, Rescue 42, Medic Engine 226, Medic Engine 228, San Manuel Medic Engine 241, US Forest Service BDF Engine 3, Battalion 132, and AMR. The units set up a high angle rescue system to lower a firefighter down to the vehicle, which was several hundred feet down. As the sun set, the firefighter accessed the vehicle, but did not find any victims. He was then safely hauled back to the top.
According to the CHP, the vehicle was not reported stolen and was not from a known previous accident. The vehicle was last registered in 2014. The CHP is investigating when the accident occurred and how it might have ended up over the side. The original report of dust on the highway is believed to be a false alarm, and finding an older accident was just a coincidence.
