Staff reports

Firefighters from the Valley Regional Fire Authority rescued an elderly woman who had fallen 150 feet down a steep embankment in southeast Auburn on Thursday afternoon.

The 70-year-old Auburn woman, Barbara Holt, and her two grandsons, ages 11 and 7, had been on a walk with a dog about 3 p.m. when the grandmother slid down an embankment near the 2700 block of Forest Ridge Drive Southeast.

The 11-year-old grandson walked up the hillside on his own and cooly called 911. Crews rescued the younger grandson, who was not hurt, and left the boys in the care of their mother.

Holt is recovering from minor injuries at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

Kimberly Terhune, VRFA public information officer, said that the boy’s call came in to Valley Com at about 3:10 p.m.

“He said that he and his little brother had been walking along with their grandmother and their dog, and that his grandmother had slipped and fallen and was possibly injured, and that she was talking to him and that he needed help getting her out,” Terhune said at the scene. “He was able to walk out on his own power. His younger brother needed a little help, so when we arrived, we just basically walked him up.”

Terhune that as of Thursday evening it was still unclear whether both or only one of the brothers slid.

“The 7-year-old stayed near his grandmother. We helped him back. We assessed the grandmother. She has some minor injuries, nothing life threatening. We had to make some decisions if it would be safer to bring her back up or safer to take her down to the river bank and bring in a boat. So the decision was made to bring in a boat. We had one come from Kent and one from Renton. She said to our people that she only slid about 20 feet, but I think when you are sliding you might not know how far you’ve slid.”

After reaching Holt at the base of the hill, firefighters determined that, in addition to the initial slide, she had fallen approximately 20 feet off a vertical ledge.Because of the steep, difficult terrain, rescuers carried the injured woman in a stokes basket down to the banks of the White River, where a swift water raft team transported her to an awaiting ambulance, authorities said.

Holt was ultimately transferred to a VRFA aid car and transported to Auburn Regional Medical Center in stable condition. She later was transported to Harborview Medical Center with back injuries.

Fire departments from throughout South King County helped in the effort, among them Federal Way, Kent, Maple Valley, North Highline, Renton, Tukwila, and King County Medic One.