The U.S. Coast Guard pulled two hikers to safety from Unalaska’s Makushin Volcano Sunday evening.
According to a Monday press release, at around 8:30 Sunday morning, the Coast Guard received a request from the Alaska State Troopers to assist two hikers stranded at about 2,000 feet up the volcano, which sits about 14 miles from town. One of the hikers was reported to have a leg injury.
The federal agency launched an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter aircrew from Kodiak, which arrived on scene about eight hours later. They evacuated both individuals to safety and transported them to Unalaska for further emergency medical care.
“To put the scale of this operation into perspective, the distance our aircrew flew is roughly equivalent to launching a helicopter from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, to conduct a rescue in North Carolina,” said Jennifer Whitcomb, Coast Guard search and rescue program manager. “This mission highlights the incredible operational reach and endurance required of our Alaska-based crews to answer the call for help.”
The National Weather Service had issued a high wind watch for Unalaska from Saturday through Sunday afternoon. The organization forecast winds of 35 to 55 mph with gusts up to about 80 mph.
According to the Marine Exchange of Alaska, wind speeds on the island peaked around 58 miles per hour on Sunday afternoon.
