Rescue crews rushed to San Francsico's tony Sea Cliff neighborhood early Friday, all on a mission to save a man trapped on an area cliff by the rising tide.
According to a tweet from the San Francisco Fire Department, crews were called to the 200 block of Sea Cliff Avenue at 1:54 Friday morning on reports that a solo victim was trapped on an area cliff.
CLIFF RESCUE 200 BLK SEA CLIFF 1 victim SFFD and USCG on scene 01:54 Hrs. pic.twitter.com/eOsZYRDS77
— San Francisco Fire (@sffdpio) December 16, 2016
CBS 5 reports that the man was discovered "dangling about 100 feet down the cliff."
The rescue effort, that took over an hour, was complicated by the wet and windy weather.
“It was a difficult rescue,” said SFFD Battalion Chief Denise Newman told CBS 5. “There were 50 mph gusts (of wind), it was wet and it was dark.”
In addition, the man was clad only in "dark pants and a sweatshirt," NBC reports.
In the end, "rescue teams from three different companies combined" to pull the man up to safety.
UPDATE 30yo Male has been Rescued by the SFFD & @USCG He has minor injuries. It is UNK how or why he became stuck on the cliff. 0200 Hrs. https://t.co/LFoxhCOPQy
— San Francisco Fire (@sffdpio) December 16, 2016
"I'm grateful," the man told NBC Bay Area following his rescue, saying that "I got caught in the high tide."
"He was hanging on and screaming for help," Newman told NBC. "He's cold, he's exhausted, but he's alive."
NBC speculates that the man, who they report had been at Baker Beach before he got trapped, was trying to reach a private beach between Baker and China Beaches, and got trapped in the process.
“I’ve been told he might have been down there for a couple hours,” Newman told CBS 5. “He’s cold He’s happy to be alive.”
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