Pic credit: SFFD
A couple who climbed a cliff at Battery Cranston in San Francisco’s Presidio on Wednesday (Sep 9) evening to watch the sunset were stranded after darkness fell. With their mobile phone dying, the couple called 911, and firefighters arrived promptly, pulling both of them to safety, the San Francisco Fire Department (SFFD) said.
Mariano Elias told SFGATE. “It got dark, the tide came in, so they were not able to exit through the beach how they came in. So they were basically trapped,” SFFD Capt.
The rescue team arrives
The couple’s phone was dying, with only a 4% battery indicator. Interestingly enough, their cellphone only had 4% power. Great work by all SFFD members resulted in the 2 people being back to safety in 1 hour, and nobody was injured,” the San Francisco Fire Department said in a social media post afterwards.
That kind of worried me when I heard that,” Elias told the outlet. “We want people to go out and visit our city, but we want people to be careful and stay on trails,” he told the outlet. Captain Mariano Elias of the SFFD recounted what happened next. Their power was nearly gone. If it died, the connection would be severed. Communication would end. The firefighters arrived with lights. The couple saw the beams sweeping across the cliff face. They knew help was there, and so they yelled. “They saw our lights when they were on the phone. A specialised SFFD rescue team descended the cliff face, moving carefully down the stone with cables and harnesses. The climb took time. The couple had been sitting with rising dread and a phone on life support. The rescue team pulled the couple back to safety. “A cliff rescue response was dispatched, and after using a location app and verbal calls, both were found and hauled up to safety using a rope system. “This is what we train for, even into the late night. They also shared images and videos of the operation afterwards. In one photo, the couple is visible on the cliff’s side, with the Golden Gate Bridge framed in the background. Stay on designated trails. The city is beautiful for a reason, but beauty doesn’t negotiate with tides.