Around 9:30 pm on Sunday, the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a missing man in Coalinga.
The caller said her 42 year old boyfriend had left around 5:30 pm on an ATV to lock up his ranch, but he never returned. The 4,000 acre property is located in steep, rugged terrain off Highway 198, about 15 miles west of the city of Coalinga. Deputies and dispatchers worked to trace the missing man’s cell phone. Once the deputy and one of the man’s relatives got into the general area of where he should be, they heard gunshots. The missing man had intentionally fired the gun he was carrying as a call for help.
At 12:45 am, the deputy found the victim at the bottom of a 300 foot canyon. He was trapped under his overturned ATV. The victim had a broken leg. Cal Fire firefighters were called in and used chain saws to chop down trees and create a path for rescue vehicles. Firefighters and medics with American Ambulance made their way down to victim. They then transported the victim out to Coalinga Airport where a life-flight crew landed their helicopter and loaded up the victim to fly him to the hospital.
This was an excellent example of multiple agencies working together for a successful outcome. Given the colder temperature outside and the victim’s inability to move, he could have suffered further health complications if not for the efforts of the first responders.
