Pair of rescues in a week in Mat-Su

WILLOW — The Air National Guard and Alaska State Troopers have been busy over the past week, rescuing people from Willow and Hatcher Pass.

On Tuesday, troopers and the guard rescued a family from the Susitna River, authorities said.

Francis “Lloyd” Hester, 76, of Willow, took three family members visiting from Texas on a brief fishing trip on the Susitna River, according to trooper dispatches. They were: Colleen Gonzales, 24; Rudy Vargas, 61; and Dan Rivera, 52. The party contacted troopers’ Talkeetna Post about 7:30 p.m. to say they had grounded after getting lost about 3.5 miles northwest of Willow, according to reports.

When their position was determined, the group decided to stay the night and wait for help from an Alaska Wildlife Troopers boat the next morning. The group phoned back about 3 a.m. and told troopers they couldn’t keep a fire going and had no way to keep dry or warm. Hester began to develop hypothermia as a result, according to troopers.

Officials at the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center scrambled a helicopter from the 210th Rescue Squadron and a parachute rescue team from the 212th Rescue Squadron to rescue the foursome, according to an Air Guard press release. The team hoisted all four onto the helicopter, which flew them to Mat-Su Regional Medical Center. The boaters were rescued by 5:30 a.m., according to reports.

Doctors treated Hester for mild hypothermia and released him, according to reports.

Then, on Thrusday, three hikers were rescued from Bomber Glacier in Hatcher Pass.

A member of the party had hiked to a ridgeline and called Alaska State Troopers after Matthew Bethke, 27, of Anchorage, broke his leg, according to troopers and an Air Guard statement. The call was made just before the hiker’s phone battery died, according to the Guard statement.

Troopers contacted the Rescue Control Center in Anchorage, who in turn asked for help from the Guard units.

Troopers are not identifying the other hikers because they weren’t injured.

The Guard scrambled an HH-60 Pave Hawk from the 210th Rescue Squadron and a team of parachute rescue personnel from the 212th Rescue Squadron.

Bethke was transported via helicopter to Mat-Su Regional Medical Center for treatment and was “in good health,” authorities said.

Bomber Glacier takes its name from a TB-29 Superfortress which crashed there in 1957, killing 6 airmen.

Contact Brian O’Connor at 352-2269 or brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com.