Elgin firefighters rescue teenage girl from ravine

Elgin firefighters on Sunday rescued a teenage girl who fell and injured her leg while attempting to jump into a swimming hole near the Union Pacific tracks west of Randall Road and south of Big Timber.

Elgin fire Battalion Chief Richard Carter said the girl was on an expedition with a group of 18- to 20-year-olds who were running down a train trestle and jumping into a creek.

The area contains a swimming hole with a rope swing.

Carter said the teen fell over a ledge and landed on some concrete, possibly breaking a leg.

He said, "It was a real steep embankment, and when she went to go jump or swing or whatever it was they were doing, she fell down."

He said she was about 40 feet below the top of train trestle that the group used to access the swimming hole.

He said, "You have to cross a trestle to get to this particular part where they like to go swimming. Apparently what they do is they run down it and jump off of this ledge into the creek. But it's really steep. So it sounds like when she got running, she kind of lost her footing and just flopped over it and landed on the concrete below. She probably fell a good 10 or 12 feet."

Carter said firefighters used their technical rescue skills to build a system with ropes and pulleys, place her in a basket, tie her up and pull her up with a rope, because the slope was too steep to walk.

Eleven firefighters took part in the rescue.

He said, "It was nothing but slippery dirt and rocks down there. All of our guys were slipping and falling going down there, too."

She was taken to Advocate Sherman Hospital in Elgin. Carter said the girl appears to be in stable condition.