Teen Rescued After Being Hurt at Dam

Rescue workers plucked a stranded 17-year-old Santa Paula boy from the top of the Matilija Dam after he broke his ankle while trying to hike across the dam Sunday night, authorities said.

The boy, whose name was not released, was apparently hiking in the area with three friends when the group decided to cross the dam just before 10 p.m., said Sandi Wells, chief public information officer for the Ventura County Fire Department.

When the boys came to a 12-foot slope in the dam, each one tried to jump down it, but the victim landed awkwardly and broke his ankle, Wells said. The boy’s friends called for help on a cell phone and climbed down the dam to meet responding firefighters.

Wells said because the area in Los Padres National Forest was difficult for the department’s search-and-rescue workers to access, they called in a Sheriff’s Department helicopter to reach the boy.

Sheriff’s Deputy Tim Hagel was lowered by rope onto a 3-foot ledge where the boy had fallen. The ledge overlooked a 100-foot drop, Wells said.

Because of the teenager’s precarious location, Wells said, Hagel described the rescue effort as “one of the most awesome rescues he’s made in years.”

“And he’s one of the few people I know who has experienced just about everything,” Wells said. “So if he said it was an awesome rescue, it was.”

The injured teenager was lifted by harness into the helicopter before being transported to Ventura County Medical Center for treatment, Wells said. The other teenagers were not hurt.

Park officials said no charges would be brought against the hikers.