Guard helps rescue surveyors

Two seasonal state workers and a dog were rescued early Wednesday from a remote area in Hawthorne by a Nevada National Guard helicopter crew.

According to Nevada Guard aviation officer Capt. Andrew Wagner, a member of a Nevada Department of Wildlife stream survey crew was in a remote area on Mount Grant when heat overtook him late Tuesday afternoon.

While the sickened man, another worker and the dog stayed behind, three others hiked out to call for help.

Wagner, the commander of the Nevada Army Guard's 168th Medical Evacuation unit stationed in Stead, received the call for assistance at 2 a.m. and his unit launched a Black Hawk helicopter at 4:27 a.m.

Once the Black Hawk crew located the survey team, they began rescue operations.

Spc. Anthony Della was lowered by hoist to the ground where he assisted the two men into the chopper.

After the dog's owner was hoisted up to the helicopter, the dog ran off and a 30-minute chase ensued with Della finally securing the dog.

"The 55-pound dog was a new situation for us and I had to figure out a method to rig the animal for the hoist," Della said. "I then hooked myself in and held the dog close to calm him while we were lifted about a 100 feet to the aircraft."

The men were taken to paramedics waiting near Hawthorne and they were then taken to the hospital, but no treatment was sought.

The Nevada Army National Guard sometimes assists local law enforcement agencies in rescue missions in the region at the behest of the Department of Emergency Management.