Man Rescued After Night at Bottom of Mine Shaft

A San Diego County man who broke his arm while exploring an abandoned mine shaft near this remote desert community was pulled to safety early Monday after spending the night at the bottom of the shaft.

Jeff Smith, 29, of Fallbrook, was airlifted by a California Highway Patrol helicopter to Desert Hospital in Palm Springs, where he was treated and released.

Smith and two friends on Sunday night had descended by rope into the 85-foot-deep Lorman Mine, about 140 miles east of Los Angeles, and were climbing out when a rock dislodged, striking Smith’s arm and breaking it, according to Patty Furbush, a U.S. Bureau of Land Management ranger.

Smith’s partners lowered him to the floor of the shaft, intending to pull him out with their vehicle, Furbush said. However, the car would not start, so one of Smith’s friends, who was not identified, set out on foot to find help.

After walking about four miles through the desert, Furbush said, Smith’s friend encountered members of the Twentynine Palms React team, a group of ham radio operators, who had set up camp at a rest area along California 62. The radio operators notified authorities.

A rescue team from the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department was dispatched, arrived at the mine at about 5 a.m., and secured the 240-pound Smith to a gurney. He was lifted out and flown to Palm Springs.

“He was dirty; he was talking; he was fine,” Furbush said.

Smith declined to discuss the incident.