PORTLAND - Search and Rescue crews in Skamania County rescued 10 stranded sheriff's deputies who were forced to spend the night in the wilderness.
High winds prevented an airlift by a Seattle-based helicopter.
Skamania County Sheriff Dave Brown said six Skamania County Sheriff's deputies and four members of the Clark-Skamania Task force spent Saturday removing thousands of marijuana plants from a large grow in the Dog Creek area just North of SR 14.
Brown said the grow was in extremely rugged terrain. He said the team became disoriented on Saturday as daylight started to run out.
Three of the deputies were apparently so dehydrated and exhausted they could not move on their own. Brown said the crew did not have lights or supplies to move in the dark so they all stayed overnight with the injured members.
Rescue crews reached the stranded deputies early Sunday morning.
Authorities have recently been conducting an annual sweep using helicopters to spot marijuana-growing operations. Over the past week-and-a-half, they have seized nearly 80,000 marijuana plants in southwest and south-central Washington. School Supplies
High winds prevented an airlift by a Seattle-based helicopter.
Skamania County Sheriff Dave Brown said six Skamania County Sheriff's deputies and four members of the Clark-Skamania Task force spent Saturday removing thousands of marijuana plants from a large grow in the Dog Creek area just North of SR 14.
Brown said the grow was in extremely rugged terrain. He said the team became disoriented on Saturday as daylight started to run out.
Three of the deputies were apparently so dehydrated and exhausted they could not move on their own. Brown said the crew did not have lights or supplies to move in the dark so they all stayed overnight with the injured members.
Rescue crews reached the stranded deputies early Sunday morning.
Authorities have recently been conducting an annual sweep using helicopters to spot marijuana-growing operations. Over the past week-and-a-half, they have seized nearly 80,000 marijuana plants in southwest and south-central Washington. School Supplies
