Firefighter Dies in Fall From Helicopter After Airlifting Dead Hiker

A Los Angeles County firefighter was killed in Topanga State Park on Tuesday during an attempt to retrieve equipment left behind after his helicopter squad airlifted a dead hiker from the park, authorities said.

Paramedics flew in to help the fallen backpacker near the Eagle Rock region of the park at about 5 p.m., county fire officials said.

Jeremy S. Siegrist, 20, of Marina del Rey, had been hiking and apparently fell about 150 feet to his death. Paramedics discovered him lying in bushes and believe he died immediately, officials said.

He suffered massive head injuries as well as multiple bruises or broken bones, said Kris Carraway, a spokeswoman for Westlake Medical Center in Westlake Village. “The physician believes that his neck was broken on impact.”

Jeff Langley, 28, a firefighter and paramedic, was injured in a 40-foot fall from a helicopter when the rescue squad returned to pick up equipment left behind during the airlift, county fire officials said.

Langley, a nine-year veteran of the Fire Department who worked in air operations, was taken by helicopter to Westlake Medical Center, said Emil Emoldovan, county fire communications supervisor. Langley died a short time later, a hospital spokeswoman said.

He was the first County Fire Department firefighter to die in 1993, Emoldovan said.