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County honors deputies who saved couple’s lives during Monte Fire;
Climbers offer safety tips for others
By Miriam Raftery
August 26, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) – San Diego Sheriff’s deputies Gary Kneeshaw and Scott Blight saved two rock climbers trapped on the face of El Capitan mountain during the Monte Fire in Lakeside on Saturday. Today, the deputies were honored with a commendation from the County Board of Supervisors for their heroic actions in a daring ASTREA helicopter rescue. In a press conference at Gillespie Field in El Cajon today, Lieutenant Richardson praised the deputies for actions “above and beyond the call of duty” which “without a doubt, saved the lives” of rock climbers André Doria and Meg Rippy.
Doria and Rippy, 27-year-old graduate students at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography, revealed details of their ordeal to East County Magazine.
“We’d climbed up the actual rock face and made it about 350 feet,” Doria said. The pair then took shelter beneath a shaded rock outcropping on El Capitan (the local name for El Cajon Mountain towering over Lakeside's El Monte Valley) to eat lunch.
Then Rippy stepped out to scout out the next phase of their ascent. “I saw the fire, and thought it was a controlled burn at first,” she recalled. The climbers used a cell phone to call 911 and learned that the blaze was a wildfire—burning straight toward them. The fire soon blocked the route they’d taken up the mountain, trapping them on the sheer rock face.
“Probably five years ago, this rescue wouldn’t have been accomplished and these two climbers would have died,” Richardson said, praising a partnership between firefighting and law enforcement authorities that allowed the rescue helicopter to fly in an active fire zone. He called the collaboration “a real model” that is unique in California and possibly in the nation.
Chopper 10 pilot Dave Weldon spotted the climbers. During the rescue, he hovered above, poised to order a water drop if the ASTREA helicopter team needed help.
ASTREA helicopter pilot Scott Bligh recalled flying through smoke so thick it made his eyes water, then landing on toe skids to pull Rippy from a narrow rock ledge and fly her to safety.
“I felt a big sense of relief seeing the chopper pull away with Meg, and she was blowing me a kiss,” Doria recalled.
Deputy Kneeshaw, the tactical flight officer, stayed behind on the mountain with Doria. Soon the original landing spot was overrun by fire, forcing them to traverse the lateral face of El Capitan to take shelter elsewhere. Doria kept a watchful eye on his climbing ropes, realizing that he and the Deputy might have to resort to plan B—attempting to climb up the ropes to higher ground if the fire encroached their new location.
On the return flight, Bligh recalled, “It was a lot hotter…I had a wakeup call when embers were coming into the cockpit; I had no idea what was behind me.”
The trapped duo on the mountain were elated to spot the helicopter’s lights approached through the wall of smoke. By then, flames were just twenty feet away, Kneeshaw recalled. Bligh spotted Rippy’s bright orange helmet through the smoke and made a second toe-skid landing without a moment to spare.
“Gary hopped on the skid, leaned over André’s lap and said, `We’ve got to go now. There isn’t going to be a third trip.” Kneeshaw leaped onto the helicopter’s skid and gripped the outside of the helicopter. There was no tether to secure him, so Doria reached outside the chopper and grabbed onto the Deputy’s gun belt. Kneeshaw clung onto the outside of the helicopter as it descended to the valley floor through blinding smoke, landing about a mile and a half away.
“Every time I think about it, I feel my pulse race,” Bligh said of that final flight. “After the second landing, my knees were shaking…my hand s trembled.”
Bligh praised the climbers for remaining calm throughout the ordeal. “They were very composed and smooth—a joy to work with. We told them to dump their gear, which we later learned was worth around $2,000 to $3,000. They never had a problem following directions.”
Bligh also expressed gratitude to special training he’d received just three days before the Monte Fire on how to react if overrun by a fire. Kneeshaw noted that he has taught safety training and participated in an exercise in which lifeguards rode a helicopter skid—a skill he never imagined he’d need to use himself at a much higher altitude.
Doria and Rippy insisted that despite the horrific scenario, they did not feel afraid. “We would like to thank everybody who cooperated in this operation,” Doria said at the press conference, praising the deputies for “their precise skills and amazing bravery.”
Rippy also expressed gratitude, then offered advice for other climbers and hikers in the backcountry. “We were very lucky to have a cellphone,” she said, noting that cell phones with GPS (global positioning satellite) technology can help rescuers pinpoint the location of people who become trapped or incapacitated. She recommended that all hikers and climbers carry a GPS device, signaling mirror, and a cell phone. She also urged climbers and hikers to wear bright clothing.
“We realize how very lucky we are to be here,” Rippy said, turning to face the deputies. “You saved our lives—and we thank you.”
The ordeal has not dissuaded the couple from fulfilling their goal at some future date. Doria disclosed, “We’re going to climb that mountain!”
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