MCI SAR: 6 LEO DOWNED ON MOUNTAIN DURING BUST FUBAR

  Who: Six law enforcement officers who suffered heat injuries as an investigation took them about 5,000 feet up Mount San Jacinto were rescued by helicopter Tuesday, a U.S. Forest Service spokesman said.  Two officers were taken to a hospital for treatment of moderate heat-related injuries after they were picked up from the Black Mountain area above the Snow Creek community just outside Palm Springs, Miller said.
 When:  The temperature at Palm Springs International Airport was 93 degrees just before 10 a.m. when the officers called for help.
  The rescue operation took about two and a half hours.
 Where: Officers were about 5,000 feet up Mount San Jacinto, San Diego County
 What:  A Riverside County Fire Department helicopter was used to bring the officers down to Snow Creek Road, near Highway 111, he said. The rescue operation took about two and a half hours. 
 Why:  A law enforcement official (center) one of six federal, state and local law enforcement investigators to suffer a heat-related illness Tuesday while on Mount San Jacinto was flown off the mountain by helicopter to the Snow Creek area near Palm Springs. / Wade Byars, The Desert Sun
 “Of course, it’s hot, dry, the terrain is very steep and rocky,” Forest Service spokesman John Miller said. “It’s one of the hazards that law enforcement and firefighters do experience in the mountains surrounding the Coachella Valley.”
 Officers from federal, state and local agencies were involved in a “law enforcement operation” in the mountains, Miller said.
 “It was not a training exercise,” he said. “It was a law enforcement investigation.”
But Miller wouldn’t say how many officers were participating or name any agencies involved. Palm Springs police were not involved in the investigation or the rescue effort, Sgt. Mike Kovaleff said.

A Cal Fire helicopter lands with two law enforcement officials who suffered a heat-related illness and were flown off of Mount San Jacinto Tuesday to the Snow Creek area near Palm Springs. The officers were hospitalized, according to John Miller, a U.S. Forest Service spokesman. 
Credit: Wade Byars, The Desert Sun

 Lesson Learned: Miller said the officers’ injuries could serve as a reminder for the general public about hiking safety.
“Heat injuries can happen to any one of us,” he said. “It’s very important for the public, when they’re out recreating, to be hydrated, carry extra water, let people know where they’re going, when they’ll be back and try to avoid hiking in the heat of the day.”

Editors note: This is a lesson learned for law enforcement involved, they should also be billed for all expenses incurred during this rescue. 
A (CAMP) Marijuana Bust is the suspected “law enforcement operation” but Law enforcemnt refused to discuss nature of operation  

Info from My Desert: Link 
CFN - California Fire News 2012 

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