Sacto 9-1-1

The body of a skydiver has been recovered from the waters of Lake Tahoe.

The El Dorado County Sheriff's Office identified the man as 29-year-old Robert Ranieri of South Lake Tahoe. He was one of three skydivers who landed in the lake. The other two were rescued, according to a Sheriff's Office news release.

The Sheriff's Office began receiving calls about 8:45 a.m. regarding a skydiving accident near Camp Richardson in South Lake Tahoe. The callers reported that three skydivers had landed in the lake and all appeared to be in distress.

A free community safety event in Rancho Cordova on Saturday will bring together first responders and others.
The "Proven Insurance Services Community Safety Saturday" occurs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Proven Insurance headquarters, 2721 Citrus Road. Among the activities scheduled at the event sponsored by Capital Insurance Group:
- KlassKids Foundation will provide digital photo ID and fingerprint kits for children.
- The California Highway Patrol will operate a child safety/booster seat inspection station.
- Sacramento Police Department volunteers will provide safety information.
- Sacramento Metro Fire Department will bring along a fire engine.
- The California Department of Boating and Waterways will be encouraging safe boating practices with educational materials and by raffling off 30 life jackets.
- The American Red Cross will provide information on flood and earthquake preparedness and other information.
A raffle will be conducted at the end of the event with prizes such as a solar flashlight, emergency radio and a roadside emergency kit. In addition, four grand prize winners will be chosen to receive a Barnes & Noble Nook Simple Touch.

Sacramento fire officials have released the name of the firefighter who may be drowned at a Yuba County lake.

He was identified as William Porter, 58, a firefighter at Oak Park's Station 6. Porter joined the department in 2002 and his current job at the Oak Park station, one of the department's busiest firehouses, is driving the fire engine.

Porter also played a role with an urban search and rescue team as a logistics manager and transportation specialist. Previously, he was deployed to help out in the wake of Hurricane Ike and Hurricane Gustav, both in 2008.

Porter was reported missing when he didn't return from a fishing trip at Camp Far West Reservoir in Yuba County on Wednesday night. Yuba County and Placer County sheriff's personnel performed a land search.

A search on the water was conducted on Thursday. The search resumed today.

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Citing two incidents that occurred last weekend, El Dorado County Sheriff's search and rescue officials urge people venturing into the back country to carefully prepare and plan for their travels.

On Satruday, Robert Barber of San Diego had gone for a walk in the woods off Kiowa Street in South Lake Tahoe when a fast-moving weather front moved into the Tahoe area, creating blizzard-like conditions. About 2 p.m., Barber became disoriented because of almost zero visibility caused by the heavy snowfall, according to a Sheriff's Department news release.

When he could not find his bearings, Barber called 911. Global positioning system technology was used to narrow down Barber's location, and search and rescue personnel, along with a search and rescue dog, located him about three-quarters of a mile from area residences.

A hobby club president who placed himself in danger to save others will be honored tonight by the Sacramento City Council.

John Bigwood, the head of the Sacramento Area Modelers, will be given the honor at tonight's council meeting. The honor was prompted by Sacramento Police Sgt. Mark Chapman who contacted Councilman Steve Cohn to say that Bigwood was deserving of recognition.

It was Bigwood who intervened Feb. 21 to calm a man who had already shot to death one person.

A veterinarian said she is optimistic that a horse (pictured) will make a full recovery after being rescued this afternoon by firefighters from Sacramento and El Dorado county.

About 1:30 p.m., the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District received a request from the UC Davis Veterinarian Emergency Response Team asking for assistance rescuing a horse that had fallen down an embankment and into a small creek near the southern El Dorado County community of Somerset. The horse had been at the bottom of the embankment for four hours and was on its side, unable to stand, according to a fire district news release.

Veterinarian Cheyl Ellis of the UC Davis response team reported that the horse was unable to make it up the embankment under its own power, but she thought the animal could survive with firefighters' help.

A man was arrested on suspicion of trespassing and a woman sent to the hospital after the pair were rescued by firefighters from a water holding unit at a city water treatment plant near Sacramento State.

The man was identified today by police as 21-year-old Eric Sleeman (pictured). He was arrested and then released from jail.

A warrant request for trespassing was submitted for the woman's arrest, according to a police activity log. She was not identified.

One person has been taken to the hospital and another is in police custody after they entered a Sacramento water treatment plant and became trapped.

Assistant Chief Niko King of the Sacramento Fire Department said firefighters were called to the Fairbairn Water Treatment Plant on the American River at 8:08 p.m., after a passerby on the levee reported hearing someone yelling near the plant's pumphouse. Firefigters initially thought someone was in the river and were preparing for a water rescue. They discovered, however, that the cries were coming from inside the five- or six-story concrete building, which sits in the river and is accessed from the levee via a footbridge.

Inside, firefighters found a man and woman, who appeared to be in their late 20s or early 30s. King said he did not know how the two, who were not authorized to be on the property, entered the site. They told firefighters that they had walked down several stories when the woman accidentally fell into a pool of water. The man jumped in to try to help her climb out.

A man was reported in fair condition after being buried up to his chest in a grain elevator in Colusa County for nearly four hours today.

Chief Jeff Gilbert of the Williams Fire Protection Authority said the Dunnigan Fire Department received a call from the Adams Grain Co. on County Road 89 about 9:20 a.m. Dunnigan firefighters called for assistance from the Colusa County Confined Space Rescue Team, made up of rescue personnel from seven fire agencies.

The team arrived about 9:40 a.m. and found a man trapped in a 80-foot-tall grain silo with about 25 tons of wheat in the bottom, Gilbert said. Employees had been working to empty the silo when the man got sucked down into the wheat. Fortunately, Gilbert said, the man hit either the bottom of the silo or a tube that carries wheat into a chute.

A skier injured in an avalanche in Placer County on Thursday had died, according to the Nevada County Sheriff's Department.

The 29-year-old skier, whose name was not immediately available, was taken Thursday to Tahoe Forest Hospital in Truckee in critical condition. He later died at the Nevada County hospital.

A Placer County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman said the avalanche occurred in Ward Valley off Highway 89. The skier was located by search and rescue teams about 500 vertical feet below Stanford Rock, off the backside of the Alpine Meadows Ski Resort, but not at the resort itself.

The report of the injury was received about 2:50 p.m. The unidentified male skier was near two or three other skiers when an avalanche occurred, and one of the group was able to ski out of the area and notify authorities, according to a Placer Sheriff's Office news release.

The skier was in rugged terrain in an area that was difficult to reach, according to rescuers on the scene. A snowcat, two snowmobiles and a team of skiers from the Tahoe Nordic Search and Rescue team were involved in the rescue.

A skier injured in an avalanche in Placer County this afternoon is reported in critical condition and en route Tahoe Forest Hospital in Truckee.

A Placer County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman said the avalanche occurred in Ward Valley off Highway 89. The the skier was located by search and rescue teams about 500 vertical feet below Stanford Rock, off the backside of the Alpine Meadows Ski Resort, but not at the resort itself. She said the skier likely will be taken to Tahoe Forest Hospital in Truckee.

The report of the injury was received about 2:50 p.m. The unidentified male skier was near two or three other skiers when an avalanche occurred, and one of the group was able to ski out of the area and notify authorities, according to a Sheriff's Office news release.

The skier was in rugged terrain in an area that is difficult to reach, according to rescuers on the scene. A snowcat, two snowmobiles and a team of skiers from the Tahoe Nordic Search and Rescue team were involved in the rescue.

By Carlos Alcalá
calcala@sacbee.com

A Sacramento couple who were trapped for days in a snowed-in car in remote Placer County were happy and relieved today, a day after they were rescued.

Mark Schroeder and Janette DeGrace met with members of the media at Schroeder's home to talk about their ordeal, which went from a fun Sunday outing to a terrifying situation that had them fearing for their lives.

The two had gone to a remote mountain bar called Uncle Tom's Cabin on Sunday. On the way home, Schroeder's Porsche 911 got stuck in the snow and the couple spent three nights in the car near the Hellhole and French Meadows reservoirs.

A 7-year-old boy who fell from a chairlift at Sugar Bowl Resort on Sunday has died of his injuries.

Officials of the Donner Summit-area resort announced the youngster's death in a news release this afternoon. They have not identified the boy.

About 11:15 a.m. Sunday, the boy, a member of the Sugar Bowl Ski Team, fell from the Mount Lincoln Express Chairlift. He was riding on the lift with two other ski team members.

State regulators and Sugar Bowl ski resort operators are investigating the fall of a boy from a chairlift on Sunday.

The 7-year-old boy, who was not identified by officials of the Donner Summit-area resort, fell from the Mt. Lincoln Express chairlift about 11:15 a.m. Sunday. The boy, a member of the Sugar Bowl Ski Team, was riding with two other ski team members on the lift.

The resort ski patrol immediately responded to the scene and the boy was transported Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno by helicopter.

"The entire Sugar Bowl community sends its thoughts and prayers to the injured boy and his family," stated a press release from the resort.

No other information was available this morning.

The reported cries of a man and a child have prompted a search in Nevada County.

A search and rescue mission began after 8 p.m. Wednesday when a citizen reported hearing a male and a small child calling from help near the Deer Creek Tribute trail, off Champion Road, west of Nevada City. Volunteers searching the area on foot have not been able to find anyone.

A California Highway Patrol helicopter crew has also been helping in the search.

By Carlos Alcalá and Bill Lindelof
calcala@sacbee.com

Searchers in Nevada County wrapped up the hunt for 3-year-old Davyn Wilkison about mid-morning Thursday when a neighbor heard the boy crying on a hill about 70 feet above the little town of Washington.

Barry Seiler found Davyn around 10 a.m., about 20 hours after he was last seen at his home in the community of fewer than 200, according to Nevada County Sheriff Detective Jesse King.

The California National Guard this morning launched a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter from Mather Army Aviation Support Facility to assist the Trinity County Sheriff's Department in the search for a 66-year-old hunter who has been missing near the Eel River since Saturday.

The helicopter is equipped with a hoist designed to lift people from the ground to the aircraft in hard-to-reach areas and is regularly used in the state's more mountainous and heavily wooded regions, according to a National Guard news release.

The hunter, Joe Quen Sr., was reported missing about 8:30 p.m. Saturday by family members who called the Trinity County Sheriff's Office, according to a story posted this morning on the Redding Record Searchlight's website. Quen was hunting in the Hopkins Camp area of southern Trinity County, southeast of Ruth Lake in the Yolla Bolly Wildnerness, according to the account. He had parked his truck in the Hopkins Camp.

The search began Sunday and continues today with teams from the Trinity County Sheriff's Office, California Highway Patrol and National Guard.

A South Lake Tahoe police dog successfully tracked a suicidal man to a forested field, finding him on the ground with slit wrists.

The rescue occurred Friday when police responded to the area of Markoffer Way and Pioneer Trail on a report of a man 34-year-old man who had been depressed and drinking heavily. His family also said that he had cut his wrists.

Officer Mark Hounsell, the handler of police dog Argo, responded to the scene to track the man. Argo led officers to a field with tall pines near the intersection of Keller Road and Markoffer Way, not far from the original call.

There on the ground, along a line of trees, the dog found the man. Paramedics were summoned, treated the man for his self-inflicted injuries and took him to the hospital.

It was with mixed feelings of pride and loss that George Smith learned that his son was awarded a Carnegie medal for extraordinary heroism.

It became official Tuesday that his son Nathan was the recipient of the honor. He was one of two residents of the Sacramento region who were awarded Carnegie medals for extraordinary acts of heroism.

One award went to Cameron C. Gilbert, a resident of Cool, for pushing away an attacker who stabbed another student at Sierra College. The other medal was awarded posthumously to Nathan N. Smith of Citrus Heights, who died trying to save his brother, Noel B. Smith, who also died, after falling through an ice-covered lake in Shasta County.

An airplane crashed on departure from the Truckee-Tahoe Airport this morning.

The twin-engine Piper Aztec aircraft crashed about 9:20 a.m. and burned on the airport grounds, according to Ian Gregor, spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration. The crash occurred under "unknown circumstances," according to Gregor.

The pilot, the only person on board, was airlifted to a Reno hospital, according to the Nevada County Sheriff's Department. The registered owner of the aircraft is a Bakersfield man, according to an FAA registry.

The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash. NTSB is the lead investigative agency.

PHOTO: Firefighters rush to the scene of a small airplane that crashed shortly after takeoff in Truckee today.

CREDIT: AP Photo/Tahoe Quarterly, Matt Palmer

Cal-OSHA said today the company that supplied the big crane that collapsed at an amusement center on Tuesday has a good inspection record.

Officials for the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration have looked at the history inspections for Maxim Crane Works, the owner of the crane that was performing the heavy lifting at Scandia Family Fun Center along Interstate 80 near Madison Avenue Tuesday.

"They have a pretty clean history," said Dean Fryer, Cal-OSHA public information officer.

By Cathy Locke and Matt Kawahara
clocke@sacbee.com

A crane collapsed Tuesday afternoon at the Scandia Fun Family Fun Center off Interstate 80 in North Highlands, sending two workers to the hospital.

The collapse brought down the park's landmark ride, the 165-foot-tall Scandia Screamer, which gives people a bird's eye view of the area and flips riders as it spins around.

The ride was not in operation. There was a maintenance project under way.

A man who was found unresponsive Friday on the bank of the American River downstream from Sunrise Boulevard died at a hospital later that day.

The Sacramento County Coroner's Office website identified him as Frank Clifford Gould, 50, of Rancho Cordova. The website lists the cause of death as undetermined but rules out homicide.

Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District firefighters received a report about 1:30 p.m. of a body floating in the river. A rescue boat crew and helicopter located the man, who was partially on shore. Rescue crews administered CPR and transported him to Mercy San Juan Medical Center.

An individual has been taken to Mercy San Juan Medical Center after being pulled from the American River about a mile downstream from the Sunrise Bridge.

Assistant Chief Scott Cockrum of the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District said firefighters received a report about 1:30 this afternoon that an individual had been seen floating face down in the river. He said rescue crews located a person, pulled the individual from the water and administered CPR.

Cockrum said little information was immediately available regarding the identity or condition of the victim.

A fisherman had been reported missing on the American, but Cockrum said that individual was reported to have been farther downstream, near River Bend Park.

Personnel from the Sacramento Fire Department's newest station responded to the near-drowning of a 50-year-old woman at a Natomas apartment complex Monday afternoon -- two hours after the station was put into service.

Fire Station 43, in the 4200 block of El Centro Road, just north of Arena Boulevard, began responding to calls at 2 p.m., according to a fire department news release.

The second call it ran was a reported drowning in a swimming pool at the Hurley Creek Apartments, less than a mile from the station, fire department Asst. Chief Niko King wrote in an email.

Last summer, authorities estimate that Anthony Alvarez took a .308 caliber round from a semi-automatic rifle to the shoulder about 9 a.m. the Thursday after he kicked off the longest hostage situation in Sacramento County history.

The round created a gaping exit wound about as big as a silver half-dollar.

And yet, the 26-year-old Alvarez would remain holed up in his cousin's Arden Way apartment for another 34 hours, occasionally firing at police and holding a 16-month-old toddler hostage. He never once complained to negotiators about the injury, nor did it appear to affect his resolve, according to the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department.

That's just one example allowing some insight into Alvarez's mindset during the 56-hour standoff that ended with Alvarez's death and the toddler's safe recovery. Sheriff's officials say Alvarez was a unique and sophisticated opponent who created the most difficult hostage scenario most law enforcement officers involved had seen in their careers.

Coming in The Bee this weekend, read never-before released details about the standoff - including SWAT efforts to end the standoff peacefully and the many hurdles facing them - and reflections from sheriff's officials about how it played out.

PHOTO CREDIT: The larger of the two rounds pictured, a .308-caliber round from a semi-automatic rifle, struck suspect Anthony Alvarez in the back of his shoulder and exited in the front, leaving a wound the size of a half-dollar. Kim Minugh, Sacramento Bee

A 45-year-old man who was found motionless in a pool at an Elk Grove fitness center Sunday afternoon has died.

The Sacramento County Coroner's Office identified him as Jesse Lee Morton, 45, of Elk Grove. The cause of death has been initially classified as undetermined.

Morton was swimming laps, and his children were at the facility when the incident occurred.

A 45-year-old man who was found motionless in a pool at an Elk Grove fitness center Sunday afternoon has died.

The Sacramento County Coroner's Office identified him as Jesse Lee Morton, 45, of Elk Grove. The cause of death has been initially classified as undetermined.

Morton was swimming laps, and his children were at the facility when the incident occurred.

Witnesses said he had come up for breath and was continuing with his lap swimming when he failed to surface about 4 p.m., said Randy Karr president of California Family Fitness on Bond Road.

"Some of the lap swimmers thought he was doing a breath test," he said. "When he didn't come up, the person next to him grabbed him."

The center's staff responded and began CPR, Karr said.

Cosumnes Community Services District Fire Chief John Michelini told The Bee on Sunday that the man was in cardiac arrest when he was taken by ambulance to Methodist Hospital.

A Placer County Sheriff's Department air support unit conducted a rescue Tuesday night of a kayaker who paddled off a 30-foot waterfall and sustained severe back injuries on landing, the department reported.

The 27-year-old man was kayaking on the north fork of the American River in a remote area of the Tahoe National Forest when he went over the waterfall, according to a department news release. Other kayakers pulled him from the water and hiked out of the canyon to call for help, the release states.

"The way he went off, his boat apparently hit flat on the water, and that's like hitting concrete," said sheriff's department Sgt. Van Bogardus, who piloted the department's air support unit rescue helicopter.

A 21-year-old woman was submerged for about a minute and suffered chest injury during an outing with friends on the Cosumnes River.

Crews from the Pioneer Fire Protection District in El Dorado County responded about 4 p.m. Tuesday to the North Fork of the Cosumnes River near the Happy Valley Cutoff Road Bridge.

An Air National Guard helicopter crew rescued a tired missing hiker suffering from dehydration in the El Dorado National Forest.

The crew from the 129th Rescue Wing spotted, landed and hiked to rescue Lauren Ellen Delatorre. She had been without food, water and warm clothing for 32 hours when the air crew found her on the Fourth of July.

The California National Guard was told Sunday evening by the state Emergency Management Agency that Delatorre was missing. The 129th Rescue Squadron was in position to help, having participated in a Fourth of July celebration near Lake Tahoe.

A U.S. Coast Guard aircrew and the Del Norte County Sheriff's Office teamed up to rescue six people from a vehicle that ran off the road and overturned near the Klamath River this morning.

The vehicle went off the road about 7:30 a.m. and sheriff's deputies requested the Coast Guard's assistance after determining that medical evacuation was needed, according to a Coast Guard news release.

Two Coast Guard MH-65 dolphin helicopters from Air Station Humboldt Bay arrived at the scene about 9 a.m. and evacuated three people involved in the accident. Because of terrain that officials described as "nearly vertical and very challenging," two of the victims were hoisted from the embankment where they were found. The other victim was loaded onto the helicopter from a landing zone prepared by sheriff's deputies.

A dog was recently rescued by a Folsom Police officer from the frigid, swift water below the Rainbow Bridge.

Thor, a brindle Boxer, slipped on smooth granite at the water's edge May 26. A bystander who witnessed the struggling pooch put in a call to Folsom police dispatch, which brought Officer Rob Challoner to the scene.

With floods on the Mississippi River and wildfires in Texas in the news, California National Guard pilots Sunday will train to aid California residents in natural disasters.

Blackhawk crews from the 1-168th Aviation Regiment's Charlie Company will join with the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District's rescue company to conduct overwater rescue training as part of their state emergency preparedness. The training will be held at VanVleck Ranch lakes in Rancho Murieta,

The National Guard unit will launch its activities out of the Sacramento Army Aviation Facility at Mather Air Field.

A 43-year-old homeless man who was dumped from a commercial trash bin into a garbage truck and "compacted" appears to have escaped without serious injury, authorities said.

Assistant Chief Scott Cockrum, spokesman for the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District, said firefighters were called to 3437 Myrtle Ave. in North Highlands about 12:20 p.m. today after a man was accidentally dumped into a Waste Management garbage truck. The truck operator compacted the contents of the truck two or three times before realizing a man was inside, Cockrum said.

He said the man was yelling and screaming when firefighters arrived. They used ladder to rescue him from inside the truck.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

Fire crews rescued seven men on the American River this afternoon after their barge hit a tree and capsized near Sunrise Boulevard in Fair Oaks, a Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District spokesman said.

The seven men -- all in their late teens to early 20s -- were traveling down the river on a "homemade party barge" when they hit rapids and lost control, said Sac Metro spokesman Capt. Christian Pebbles.

The barge hit a tree that had fallen in the water and capsized, throwing the men into the water, Pebbles said. All seven were able to grab hold of the tree, Pebbles said.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

A car with the body of a man inside has been pulled from a creek in Natomas where police said the vehicle ran off the road this morning.

The incident happened around 5:30 a.m. at Garden Highway and Truxel Road. A police spokesman said that officers got a call about a vehicle speeding southbound on Truxel Road.

Divers searched the muddy water of Steelhead Creek most of the morning before finally finding the vehicle and securing a cable to the car.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

Police said a drunken woman trying to climb a south Sacramento fence ended up impaled on a steel spike.

Officers responded at 2:30 a.m. Wednesday to a residence in the 6800 block of Woodbine Avenue where a woman was screaming.

When they arrived, police found an intoxicated 27-year-old woman impaled through a hamstring by a spike on a security fence.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

A retired state employee today will again thank the CHP helicopter crew that found him after he became lost last summer in mountainous back country of Placer County.

Jim Clevenger, former division chief in the Secretary of State's office, was hiking with friends July 3 at Sailor Bar in Placer County when he became separated from his group. Hiking alone, he became disoriented and lost.

With a bum leg and dehydrated, he was unable to continue. He was stuck in a remote part of New York Canyon.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

Sacramento Metropolitan firefighters rescued a man today who fell into the American River while fishing, then dragged himself out and used his cell phone to call for help.

The man was fishing at Hagan Park in Rancho Cordova sometime before noon when he slipped into the river, where the water was cold and the current strong, said Sac Metro spokesman Assistant Chief Brian Rice.

Unable to get back to shore, the man got himself to an island on the river, used his still-working cell phone to call for help and waited on the island until fire crews responded, Rice said.

Rice said firefighters responded with two boats, a medic unit and an engine company.

The man was "obviously very cold and wet," but he was released by firefighters and returned home, Rice said.

Call The Bee's Matt Kawahara, (916) 321-1015.

By Bee Staff

The Placer County Sheriff's Department is asking the public's help in finding a 5th suspect in a female band of burglars led by a male.

Three women and one man have been arrested in the case, according to a Sheriff's Department news release.

Detectives are seeking Amanda Jojo, 21 (left), who is wanted on suspicion of burglary charges. All of the suspects are from Placer County.

Over the past several months, Stephanie Cooke-Perez, 27, Jayme L. Salcedo, 33, Karissa D. Yeager, 27, and Joseph W. Einspahr, 30, were arrested, a sheriff's spokeswoman said. (Below, from left to right, top to bottom.)

They are suspected of breaking into cars in the sheriff's jurisdiction, as well as State Parks' jurisdiction in Placer County, the spokeswoman said.

The group has been identified in 10 residential and vehicle burglaries, she said.

Detectives are still sorting through a large amount of stolen property found on the group and attempting to identify more burglaries.

Salcedo and Yeager have posted bail, the spokeswoman said.

Cooke-Perez is being held without bail on suspicion of a parole violation as well as charges of burglary, receiving stolen property, possession of a controlled substance and committing a felony while out on bail, the spokeswoman said.

Einspahr remains in custody at the Placer County Jail with bail set at $115,000, she said. He is charged with burglary, receiving stolen property, conspiracy, possession of a controlled substance, committing a felony while out on bail and a $25,000 warrant from Nevada County, she said.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

The West Sacramento Fire Department responded to a rescue at a construction site this morning where a worker fell.

Initial reports indicate that the worker at a construction site had been taken away in an ambulance and was not seriously hurt. The rescue occurred in the 5000 block of Jefferson Boulevard about 7:30 a.m.

A worker at the construction site fell from a ladder into a small pit. Firefighters got the injured worker onto a litter and he was lifted from a pit by a construction crane.

Call The Bee's Bill Lindelof, (916) 321-1079. The Bee's Randy Pench contributed to this report.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

A man who tried to climb up a Fair Oaks river bluff last night only made it half way and had to be rescued by firefighters.

Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District firefighters were called about midnight to assist Sacramento County Sheriff's deputies in rescuing the man who attempted to climb from the water up the bluff near the old Fair Oaks bridge.

The 40-year-old man had been stuck for about eight hours about 100 feet up from the American River. It is not known why he tried to climb the cliff.

Firefighters lowered from the top of the cliff with ropes, hooked the man into a safety line and lowered him into an awaiting Sac Metro boat.

Sac Metro Assistant Chief Brian Rice said that the man was dehydrated and had suffered some scrapes, but was otherwise uninjured.

Call The Bee's Bill Lindelof, (916) 321-1079.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

A woman who fled from police was rescued by two Galt Police officers after her vehicle ran off the road into a ravine and caught fire.

The officers went to the 800 block of Lake Canyon Avenue shortly after 11 this morning after receiving a report of a physical fight between a mother and daughter. When police arrived, the 18-year-old daughter fled in a vehicle, striking her mother's house in the process and causing moderate damage, according to a Police Department news release.

Officers pursued the vehicle, which turned onto Carillion Boulevard, then careened into a ravine at the corner of Simmerhorn Road and Carillion Boulevard. The driver's airbag deployed and the woman lost consciousness.

Officers arrived, saw flames coming from the driver's side of the vehicle and yelled at the woman to get out of the locked vehicle. When they realized she was unconscious, Sgt. Ed Arlt broke the passenger window to unlock the vehicle. He and Officer Steve Denier pulled the woman out through the passenger side door as she was regaining consciousness, the news release said.

The woman was taken to a hospital for treatment.

Police said no criminal charges will be filed.