Post by L Roebuck on Nov 28, 2006 10:22:13 GMT -5
Texas man freed from local cave
One person died following a traffic mishap at Skyline and two rescue squads were called to rescue a Texas spelunker from a narrow cave entrance on the Skyline Wildlife Management Area over the long Thanksgiving weekend.
Miranda Lea, 21, of Flat Rock died at Huntsville Hospital after being injured in a traffic accident at 8:03 a.m. Friday at the intersection of County Road 146 and Alabama Highway 79, according to State Trooper District Headquarters.
The trooper report stated that Lea was a passenger in a vehicle driven by Jeremy Johnson, 19, of Scottsboro. A spokesman at the trooper post said the name of the driver of the other car was not immediately available. However, other sources reported it was Timothy Wright.
Jackson County Chief Deputy Sheriff Dennis Miller said a person on a caving trip got into a cave before midnight Saturday night and could not get out. The rescue took place Sunday. The victim was not injured and Miller said he did not have the name of the victim for whom the Scottsboro-Jackson County Rescue Squad and the Hamilton County, Tenn. Rescue Squad responded.
Aubert Hastings, captain of the Scottsboro-Jackson squad, said he received a call and went out about 4 a.m. Sunday. "There were 20 or 25 of us," Hastings said. "I got home about 2:30 that afternoon."
The rescue squad captain said they called the Hamilton County squad because the squad has more equipment for drilling into rocks, which was needed in this case. Hastings said they drove about six miles on the Skyline Wildlife Management Area and then walked about a mile down the Tate's side of Skyline Mountain.
It was rough carrying all that equipment, Hastings said. "We hauled two loads on a Gator (four-wheeler) and had to winch the equipment back up the bluff." It was too steep to haul the equipment back up on the four-wheeler.
Hastings said the Texas man was not identified, but was with two other men from Texas here on a caving expedition. The other two were barely able to escape the cave, but the third one could not get back out. The two went and called for help.
"They just barely got inside the cave by twisting, turning and wiggling to get through the opening to go down into the cave," Hastings said. To make the entrance-exit hole bigger, rock had to be burst. That is the specialty equipment needed from Hamilton County and that went very well on the rocks.
The rescue squad captain said he was not aware there was a cave entrance on that side of the mountain, "but we do now!"
He described the man who could not get back out as being about 6'2" and weighing about 200 pounds. He was the biggest of the three.
Hastings said a lot of people don't realize it, but 300 to 400 people come into Jackson County for caving expeditions every weekend.
Police Department Capt. Ron Latimer said it was a quiet weekend in Scottsboro.
Article
One person died following a traffic mishap at Skyline and two rescue squads were called to rescue a Texas spelunker from a narrow cave entrance on the Skyline Wildlife Management Area over the long Thanksgiving weekend.
Miranda Lea, 21, of Flat Rock died at Huntsville Hospital after being injured in a traffic accident at 8:03 a.m. Friday at the intersection of County Road 146 and Alabama Highway 79, according to State Trooper District Headquarters.
The trooper report stated that Lea was a passenger in a vehicle driven by Jeremy Johnson, 19, of Scottsboro. A spokesman at the trooper post said the name of the driver of the other car was not immediately available. However, other sources reported it was Timothy Wright.
Jackson County Chief Deputy Sheriff Dennis Miller said a person on a caving trip got into a cave before midnight Saturday night and could not get out. The rescue took place Sunday. The victim was not injured and Miller said he did not have the name of the victim for whom the Scottsboro-Jackson County Rescue Squad and the Hamilton County, Tenn. Rescue Squad responded.
Aubert Hastings, captain of the Scottsboro-Jackson squad, said he received a call and went out about 4 a.m. Sunday. "There were 20 or 25 of us," Hastings said. "I got home about 2:30 that afternoon."
The rescue squad captain said they called the Hamilton County squad because the squad has more equipment for drilling into rocks, which was needed in this case. Hastings said they drove about six miles on the Skyline Wildlife Management Area and then walked about a mile down the Tate's side of Skyline Mountain.
It was rough carrying all that equipment, Hastings said. "We hauled two loads on a Gator (four-wheeler) and had to winch the equipment back up the bluff." It was too steep to haul the equipment back up on the four-wheeler.
Hastings said the Texas man was not identified, but was with two other men from Texas here on a caving expedition. The other two were barely able to escape the cave, but the third one could not get back out. The two went and called for help.
"They just barely got inside the cave by twisting, turning and wiggling to get through the opening to go down into the cave," Hastings said. To make the entrance-exit hole bigger, rock had to be burst. That is the specialty equipment needed from Hamilton County and that went very well on the rocks.
The rescue squad captain said he was not aware there was a cave entrance on that side of the mountain, "but we do now!"
He described the man who could not get back out as being about 6'2" and weighing about 200 pounds. He was the biggest of the three.
Hastings said a lot of people don't realize it, but 300 to 400 people come into Jackson County for caving expeditions every weekend.
Police Department Capt. Ron Latimer said it was a quiet weekend in Scottsboro.
Article
