Heat spawns multiple rescues
Phoenix crews ran multiple mountain rescues on Saturday as temperatures spiked — reports cite four mountain rescues across valley trails and a technical rope extraction at Camelback Mountain. ( ) Trails briefly closed during the third rescue, at least one hiker was hospitalized, and a separate technical rescue was underway on South Mountain. ( )
Phoenix rescue crews were dispatched to at least four mountain emergencies across the Valley on Saturday as afternoon temperatures climbed into the upper 80s. (fox10phoenix.com) The first reported rescue happened around 8:30 a.m. on South Mountain, where Phoenix Fire said a woman had a medical emergency on the trail. A second rescue followed around 10:30 a.m. on Piestewa Peak, also involving a woman with a medical emergency. (12news.com) A third rescue shut down Echo Canyon Trail on Camelback Mountain for a period Saturday afternoon after a woman suffered a lower-leg injury in a difficult-to-reach spot. Phoenix Fire carried patients from the mountain in a single-wheel “big wheel” stretcher and took them to hospitals in stable condition, 12News reported. (12news.com) KTAR reported a separate Camelback rescue near the Echo Canyon Trailhead at about 2 p.m., where firefighters responded to a female hiker with a leg injury and took her to a hospital. Azfamily said firefighters handled four mountain rescues across the Valley on Saturday. (ktar.com (azfamily.com) Phoenix has spent the past five years tightening its heat rules on major trails. The city’s Trail Heat Safety Program began in 2021, and the Parks and Recreation Board expanded it in October 2024 and again on March 27, 2025. (phoenix.gov) Under the current policy, Camelback Mountain’s Echo Canyon and Cholla trails, the Piestewa Peak Summit Trail, and several South Mountain routes close from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. when the National Weather Service issues an Extreme Heat Warning. More than 100 miles of South Mountain trails remain open even on those warning days. (phoenix.gov) City data shows why Phoenix keeps changing the rules: more than 200 hikers are rescued each year from city desert and mountain parks. In 2024, Phoenix logged 45 trail-closure days tied to extreme heat warnings and 121 days with highs of at least 105 degrees Fahrenheit. (phoenix.gov) The National Weather Service’s Phoenix heat page showed a forecast high of 88 degrees Fahrenheit for Saturday, April 11, with “no risk” on its HeatRisk scale. Even below formal warning thresholds, Phoenix firefighters were still carrying hikers off the mountains by midday. (weather.gov)
