Teen's Quick Thinking Saves Man, Dog Stranded On Cliff

FAIR OAKS (CBS13) — A man and his dog were stranded on a cliff more than 100 feet above the American River, prompting a rescue.

Only on CBS13, we spoke with how a teenager's quick actions lead to their rescue in Fair Oaks.

Chase Patterson was shocked to see a dog and its owner when he looked over the edge of a bluff right outside his grandparents' home.

"His dog just starts crying, and I was like, 'Is anyone else down there?'" he said. "He's like, 'I followed a deer trail, and he followed it too far.'"

Fire crews say a man who was walking his dog along the river ended up getting stranded on the side of the wet, slippery, rugged cliff.

Patterson was the first to see them. He called 911 and then ran into the garage to find something to help rescue them.

"I grabbed that air compressor hose and I just threw it down to him and he tied it around his waist," he said.

Using the hose, Patterson says he tied the other end to a nearby mailbox. He believes he could have pulled the man up, but they were both worried about the dog.

"He stayed with his dog, because he didn't want his dog to follow him and get hurt," he said.

Crews showed up minutes later and were able to put the dog named Jenna in a sling and hoist her up the cliff. These pictures snapped by Metro Fire rescuers.

"The dog we hoisted up 15 feet, and then the gentleman we lowered down about 60 feet," said a rescuer.

The man was put into a harness and lowered down a rescue boat.

"If was just luck that I came out of my grandparents house and his dog was just crying," Patterson said.

Neither the man nor his dog were injured.