Crime & Safety

Hiker Injured in Fall from Canyon Park Waterfall Expected to Recover

The man appears to have fallen while trying to climb the face of the falls Saturday, fire officials said.

A 20-year-old male who suffered serious hip and back injuries after apparently falling while scaling the waterfall Saturday is expected to recover, a fire official said.

The man fell about 20 feet while presumably climbing the face of the park's waterfall and had to be transported by firefighters to a hospital trauma center Saturday afternoon, Monrovia Fire Chief Christopher Donovan said.

"It appears, even though it's an unsafe act, he may have fallen about 20 feet down and had some injuries," Donovan said.

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Emergency personnel had to hike about a mile from a park trailhead to retrieve the man, Donovan said. His injuries were not life threatening but he was taken to the trauma ward as a precaution because of the height of his fall, he said.

Signs posted at the falls warn hikers that climbing the face of the cliff next to the falls is forbidden but , Donovan said.

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Donovan estimated that firefighters are called in to aid injured hikers a few times per year. Sometimes, they must call in a Los Angeles County helicopter to retrieve hikers who climb up but cannot get back down.

"Sometimes we get calls where people will climb the face of the falls and get stuck at the top," Donovan said. "They’re not injured but they can’t get down."

Though signs expressly forbid hikers from making the climbs, they do not face any criminal penalties for doing so, Donovan said.

Donovan said time spent by firefighters rescuing hikers who disobey park rules could be better spent elsewhere.

"I think the message there really is...it's a dangerous situation and there are signs at the end of the trail there for people to not climb up those falls and people should heed those warnings," he said.


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