Lake County Sheriff’s deputies and personnel from the North Shore Fire Protection District responded to a frantic 911 call from a neighbor in the 6200 block of Roland Dr. in Lucerne, CA.

On arrival, they located a teen that was stuck at the top of a 60-foot cliff, known as “Castle Rock.” The teen had been there for about two hours and was unable to make it down safely since night had fallen, which made the situation more perilous. Ground-based rescue efforts would have been time consuming, requiring additional rescue crews and tied up those resources for an extended period.

The Henry-1 crew responded to the area and rescued the teen using a horse collar device. The teen was then flown to fire crew members who were waiting on the ground. He was uninjured.

The victim was later identified as 19-year-old Jerry Michael King of Lucerne, CA. He had apparently climbed the rock before sundown but found it too dangerous to descend, especially once it got dark.  He had been on top of the rock for about two hours.

Henry-1 is equipped with state-of-the-art night vision goggles and a 50-million candle-power Night Sun spotlight. This equipment, plus regular night time rescue training, enables the Henry-1 crew to be available to perform these nighttime long-line rescues.

On Saturday April 17th, at about 1:25 pm, the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Helicopter, “Henry-1,” was called out to 314 Lands End Close, in the Sea Ranch area for a scuba diver in distress.

Sheriff’s coastal deputies, park rangers and Fire/EMS personnel responded to the scene and spotted the diver who had self-inflated his personal floatation vest upon becoming distressed. The diver was about 150 yards off shore and had become too exhausted to return to shore.

“Henry-1″ arrived on scene within 13 minutes and set up for a long- line rescue. Helicopter pilot Paul Bradley flew Tactical Flight Deputy Debbie Little via 100-foot long-line attatched to the bottom of the helicopter to the diver, plucked him from the surf and returned him to safety on the shore.

The rescued diver was 23-year-old Robert Mushet from Fairfax, CA in Marin County.

The subject of the earlier press release, Deborah Keehn, has just been located in an area near the point last seen off of West Dry Creek Rd. She was located by the Sheriff’s Helicopter crew who were conducting a search of the wooded area along a nearby creek.

Ground units were directed to her location by the helicopter and she was walked out to a waiting ambulance.  Initial reports indicate she was wet, cold and confused with no other apparent injuries.  She was to be taken to an area hospital for further evaluation.

On Saturday, 10/03/09, at approximately 6:50PM, deputies were dispatched to the area of Muniz Ranch Road just north of downtown Jenner for a missing injured hiker. A resident in the 3800 block of Muniz Ranch Road reported that his roommate, Jonathan Hughes, 53 years old, went for a hike with his dog (Kobi) at around 4:00 PM today. At around 6:45PM, Hughes contacted his roommate, via handheld two way radio saying that he had twisted his knee and needed help. Hughes also reported that he was lost somewhere off of a fire trail near a bridge. Deputies responded to the area, along with Monte Rio Fire Chief Steve Baxman and the Sheriff’s Helicopter, Henry 1. Temperatures were dipping into the low 50′s, it was extremely windy and darkness had set in. Hughes was not dressed for the weather. After about a 45 minute search, Pilot Paul Bradley located Hughes and his dog, Kobi, using his night vision goggles. Henry-1 directed Sgt. Raasch and Deputy Mauro with their 4X4 vehicle to Hughes’ location. Hughes was found off of a seldom used fire road approximately six miles from his house. Hughes did not require any immediate medical aid and he and his dog were given a ride home.