Visitors Saved in Dramatic Rescue at Victor Falls

A garbled 911-phone call was all rescuers had to go on late Saturday evening when they discovered three people trapped at the base of Victor Falls in Bonney Lake. One was severely injured and transported to a local trauma center after rescuers performed a complicated, high-angle rescue to reach him, according to a press release.

Firefighters arrived at the 18800 block of Rhodes Lake Rd. around 5:30 p.m. on July 16 and discovered three young adults at the base of Victor Falls. According to witnesses, the group was standing on the south side of the embankment above the falls when one of them slipped. Another attempted to catch her and they both fell approximately 50 feet to the base of the falls. A third person climbed down to them and was not injured.

In all, 30 law enforcement officers from the Pierce County Sheriff, Tacoma-Pierce County Search and Rescue and Orting Valley Fire and Rescue assisted the East Pierce Technical Rescue Team in what proved to be an intricate and dangerous operation. While several firefighters made their way down to the bank to assess the climbers and keep them warm, others set up a high-angle rescue operation to extricate the injured.

Crews lowered East Pierce firefighter-paramedic Shawn Wagner over a 120-foot cliff to bring the injured person to safety nearly two hours after rescuers arrived. The second hiker was treated at another nearby hospital for less-serious injuries and the third person did not need medical attention.