Sheriff stages weekend safety detail at Cedar Creek Falls

The Sheriff’s Department is conducting a safety detail at Cedar Creek Falls in Julian and Ramona this weekend. It started Saturday and continues through Sunday, July 15, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Members of the Sheriff’s Search and Rescue (SAR) Unit and Off-Road Enforcement Team (ORET) on ATVs and quad runners will join sheriff’s deputies and the U.S. Forest Service in patrolling the trail. They will contact visitors to ensure they are prepared for the hike, as well as give information about weather conditions and hazards associated with the trail. CHP will be on site to enforce parking rules.

Sheriff’s and U.S. Forest Service personnel will take appropriate law enforcement actions on violations of local, state and federal laws, which can include a citation up to an arrest.

The increased law enforcement presence is for public safety. Sheriff’s ASTREA has been called to rescue hikers twice this week on the Julian side of Cedar Creek Falls. On July 9 at 5:30 p.m., 19-year-old Lynn Thu Tran of Escondido was found unconscious with possible signs of heat stroke. She was airlifted to Palomar Medical Center but did not survive.

On July 10 at 2:30 p.m., ASTREA responded to a call of two distressed hikers with a dog. The couple only needed water and were able to walk back on their own, but their dog needed rescue. While transporting the dog, ASTREA was flagged by another group of hikers. The rescue crew found a 79-year-old man sitting against a rock complaining of weakness and dizziness. He was hoisted to an ambulance at a nearby Cal Fire station. The man and the dog will recover.