MOUNT RAINIER NATIONAL PARK – A firefighter who was an avid mountain climber died Thursday after a fall high on Mount Rainier, the second death in roughly two weeks on one of the mountain’s most dangerous routes.
The man’s climbing partner, another firefighter, was rescued by helicopter and flown to a hospital for treatment of a hand injury.
Fire Capt. Jon Cahill, 40, of Auburn, fell 200 feet on Liberty Ridge, about 11,300 feet up the 14,410-foot peak.
Rescue climbers and an Oregon National Guard helicopter rushed to reach him, but by the time the helicopter arrived, he was dead, said Mount Rainier National Park spokesman Barry Fraissinet.
The Black Hawk helicopter did pick up Cahill’s partner, Bellevue firefighter Mark Anderson, 33, and flew him to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where he was in satisfactory condition.
The men, both trained as emergency medical technicians, had planned to reach the summit by midmorning Thursday. It was not immediately known what caused Cahill’s fall.
Kimberly McDonald, a spokeswoman for the Auburn Fire Department, said Cahill was an outstanding firefighter who loved climbing and had climbed Mount Rainier 25 times. He was married with four children and had been with the department since 1989.
“He was like a family member to all of us,” she said.
Mount Rainier head ranger Jill Hawk said Cahill had climbed the Liberty Ridge route on Rainier’s north side more than half a dozen times.
“Our hearts go out to their families,” she said. “It’s truly a tragic situation.”
On May 15, climber Peter Cooley of Cape Elizabeth, Maine, tumbled down a steep, icy slope on Liberty Ridge and hit his head on a rock spur. His climbing partner, Scott Richards, also of Cape Elizabeth, maneuvered the two of them to a tiny flat spot, but the men were stranded for two days as temperatures dipped below freezing in whiteout conditions.
Cooley, 39, was picked up by a National Guard helicopter May 17 from the 12,300-foot level but died on the way to a hospital. Accompanied by two rangers, Richards hiked down to a glacier the following day and was picked up by a helicopter.
Cahill’s death during a summit ascent of Mount Rainier was the 91st since 1887, when records were first kept.
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