Why closing trails won’t reduce rescue calls

A number of people have been clamoring for action following a series of mountain rescues of injured hikers this summer in Phoenix.

Among the loudest and most enthusiastic calls have been to close mountain and preserve trails during extreme heat and to adopt a “stupid-hiker law” that would stick a rescued hiker with the tab. Neither would really work.

Closing the trails would be a hot mess. What would be the benchmark?

One proposal would target days when temperatures hit 110 degrees, when the National Weather Service issues “excessive heat” warnings. But that seems more a marker of convenience than science.

The Phoenix Fire Department doesn’t track heat-related incidents, per se, but of the 154 mountain-rescue calls crews responded to through July 19, 120 — or more than three-quarters of the calls — occurred before June 1, when high temperatures broke 100 degrees only three times.

Of the 34 calls that happened since June 1, half came on days when temperatures hit a high of 110 degrees or higher. But of those 17, all but two came before 10:30 a.m. or after 8 p.m. — long before or after the peak of the heat.

Phoenix Fire spokesman William Benedict said, “Some people, 110 degrees, can hike the mountain twice and go crazy. For some people, they can’t go up in 80-degree weather.”

It’s more about your abilities — and limitations. And about being prepared.

Which is why the department’s emphasis is on hiker preparation and precaution, what Benedict refers to “layering different levels of safety” — from carrying water and a cellphone to being accompanied by someone who’s physically conditioned.

That reduces risks, but does not eliminate them. In the death of a 12-year-old hiker Friday in north Phoenix, authorities reported that the boy and an adult companion each carried 2-liter bottles of water and the man had a cellphone but had trouble getting a signal. And a 33-year-old man who had to be rescued off Piestewa Peak Monday was described as an avid hiker who felt ill after reaching the top.

Cases such as those challenge the notion we should legislate when or how people should hike.

Advocates of a stupid-hiker law want to replicate the stupid-motorist law that punishes drivers who get stuck trying to cross flooded roadways during the summer monsoon. Authorities can cite the drivers with a $2,000 ticket and, in theory, bill them for the cost of a water rescue.

But it’s one thing to punish those who intentionally, willfully put themselves in harm’s way and in need of rescue. It’s another to punish those who suffer mishaps.

Not an insignificant number of those who end up needing rescue are seasoned, conditioned hikers, authorities point out. The pro-punishment side argues that it’s not just the hikers in trouble who are at risk but the fire crews dispatched to rescue them.

Deputy Fire Chief Shelly Jamison says the technical-rescue crews are trained to respond under harsh conditions, and that while the typical mountain rescue can take 2 to 3 hours, the department has a system in place to shift or move up crews so there’s no gap in the fire department’s readiness.

That’s not to say the desire to reduce distressed-hiker incidents isn’t there. In 2013, Phoenix Fire recorded 153 calls; last year, that number surged to 237. We’re on pace to top that this year.

But Jamison said she believes the answer is with a continued education and not punitive actions.

The deputy fire chief equates the issue with drownings, that there’s simply no single effort or program that will eliminate accidents — however preventable.

That is to say, the department’s reticence on trail closures and fines is, in itself, a statement about where solutions may not lie. Those pushing the efforts may want to take heed. Contact Abe Kwok at akwok@ azcentral.com. Twitter: @abekwok