Hikers rescued; who pays the bill?

Two more hikers are safe after a rescue Tuesday night on the Lykken Trail in Palm Springs. They were rescued after getting lost and running out of water.

They’re the latest in a string of hikers needing help on local trails. And some people have questioned whether the hikers should face fines to deter others from being caught unprepared.

Hiking in our desert heat is not for the faint of heart. And if you’re unprepared it can be disastrous.

“People don’t pay attention to the signs and maybe are too confident in their abilities and don’t look at the risk associated with hiking,” Lt. Mike Kovaleff of the Palm Springs Police Department

We’ve seen a handful of rescues and one hiker death over the past few months. Those rescues often divert precious resources.

“It takes one to two to three trucks out of service plus a battalion chief and those resources are really needed in the community to respond to other incidents,” said Palm Springs Interim Fire Chief Blake Goetz.

Some wonder if handing out fines to hikers would decrease the number of rescues.

“I believe that it would help future hikers to know what situations not to put themselves in,” said Sharon Williams who was visiting from Florida.

But both Kovaleff and Goetz don’t like that idea.

“We’ve never considered charging people,” Kovaleff said.

“We feel that if people know they are going to get billed they won’t call us when they need help and that would be not a good outcome for people,” Goetz said.

Due to the network of agencies involved in these rescues there was no way to nail down a ballpark cost per rescue.

“The folks that do work for us the Palm Springs Mounted Police Search and Rescue, are volunteers. They come out at no cost to the Police Department,” Kovaleff said.

“The cost is unquantifiable cost of the units being deployed and committed to it while other incidents are going on and delayed response times and things,” Goetz said.

They said it’s hard to put a cost on someone’s safety but they believe many of these rescues could have been prevented.

“On most of the ones we’ve been on this summer have been poor decisions,” Goetz said.

They said know your limits and take heat into account. While it might not cost them anything, both agencies agree hikers need to be prepared before they set out on the trail.

They suggest hiking in the morning when temps are cooler and say to always bring water and snacks.

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