Texting Woman Falls Off Cliff

Photo: gettingsmart.com

(Adn.com) Fire officials faced a double challenge during a recent rescue: A woman fell 60 feet down a cliff to rocks as the tide crept in along a Kodiak beach.

The home of the woman, Maria Pestrikoff, sits on the cliff. While texting on Sept. 17, she walked close to the edge to discard a cigarette butt. She slipped on wet grass and fell, her friend Anthony Burke told the Kodiak Daily Mirror in a story Wednesday.

"She was in the rocks between the boulders and she was calling for help," Burke said. "She was screaming in agony."

Bayside Fire Department received the first call for help. Chief Bob Himes said the Kodiak Fire Department was quickly summoned for its expertise in rope rescues.

"It's a very hard rescue," Himes said. "It's very technical, and it doesn't happen that often. We rely on the city and the Coast Guard fire departments who have the manpower to do the training."

Two Bayside volunteer first responders used an aluminum ladder to descend and reach Pestrikoff. Kodiak firefighters followed, Chief Rome Kamai said in an email. Read full story...

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The Problem with Texting - CNN Tech - You do not want to talk to me on the phone. How do I know? Because I don't want to talk to you on the phone. Nothing personal, I just can't stand the thing.I find it intrusive and somehow presumptuous. It sounds off insolently whenever it chooses and...