Near Zortman, a coordinated rescue saved the life of a seriously injured hiker near Old Scraggy Mountain on Saturday, August 9, 2025.
Around 4 p.m., the Phillips County Sheriff's Office received a 911 call reporting that a member of a hiking party had fallen down a sheer rock face near the peak.
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Spotty cell service made it difficult to locate the hiker, and rescuers searched for nearly three hours before discovering the hiker in a rock chute.
"We realized that the only way this subject was making it off the mountain was by a helicopter hoist," stated Phillips County Undersheriff Jordan Arthur.
The 189th Helicopter Crew of the Montana Army National Guard, Deputy Harris, several volunteer fire departments, and other organizations also contributed to the rescue effort. Arthur stated that the operation benefited from excellent communication.
"That location is really problematic in terms of both cell and radio service. So it was one of the issues we had to face. But, as far as incident command and everything, everybody was on the same page," Arthur said.
The successful rescue can be attributed to two key factors: Deputy Harris's on-site medical care, which stabilized the patient for several hours, and the availability and promptness of the helicopters.
"Without that helicopter, I don't know what we would have done until morning," Arthur told me. "And with severe trauma like that, I don't know if the patient would have made it through the night."
Because of the quick and collaborative response, the hiker not only made it through the night but was evacuated to safety and is expected to survive.
Here is the full account of the operation from the Phillips County Sheriff's Office:
At approximately 1600 hours on Saturday, August 9th, the Phillips County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call from a subject that was hiking near the summit of Scraggy Mountain near Zortman. The subject reported that a member of their party had fallen down a steep rock face, and was critically injured and non-responsive. Due to spotty cell service, an exact location could not be obtained at that time.
Based upon the totality of the circumstances, the Phillips County Sheriff’s Office launched a search and rescue mission and mobilized other agencies to assist. These agencies included the Malta Volunteer Fire Dept., Zortman Volunteer Fire Department, Phillips County Ambulance Service, Bureau of Land Management Zortman office, Montana Highway Patrol, and the Ft. Belknap Police Department.
At the time the 911 call was received, PCSO Deputy Harris was already in the Zortman area. Deputy Harris has advanced medical certifications and excellent knowledge of the Little Rockies mountain range. Deputy Harris assembled an initial response crew including BLM members, and began an initial assent up Scraggy Mountain in an effort to locate the injured subject while additional resources and PCSO staff responded from Malta. During this time, multiple phone calls were connected with the reporting party, but each time a different set of coordinates were reported before the phone calls were lost.
Due to the severity of the reported injuries, a medivac helicopter was requested, but had to return to base due to thick wildfire smoke in the Zortman area.
While the initial team continued up the mountain, PCSO Deputy Uphaus and Undersheriff Arthur arrived on scene and established a forward staging area before attempting to create access for ATVs closer to the summit. Due to the remote terrain and thick vegetation, it was determined that the only access up towards the summit was by foot.
At this time, Undersheriff Arthur assumed incident command duties, and a second team consisting of MHP Trooper Westford and Ft. Belknap Police Officer Warren began their assent with supporting equipment for the initial team.
At approximately 1900 hours, three hours after the initial 911 call was received, the first response team located the injured subject in a rock chute near the summit of Scraggy Mountain. Deputy Harris performed life saving measures, and it was determined that it was not possible to transport the individual out by foot due to injuries and the terrain. Due to this, the PCSO requested mutual aid through the Montana Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association mutual aid system for a rescue airship that was capable of conducting high risk night-time hoist operations. This call was answered by the Montana National Guard, who dispatched a blackhawk helicopter belonging to the 189th Aviation Regiment out of Helena.
While waiting for the airship response, the two teams linked up at the location of the injured subject and began establishing a shelter and fire in order to stabilize the patient. Deputy Harris continued to perform life saving measures throughout the entirety of this incident.
The blackhawk, call sign Dustoff 690, arrived on scene at approximately 22:34 hours to assist. The crew of Dustoff 690 expertly conducted hoist operations, and were successful with lifting the injured subject off of the mountain. The crew of Dustoff 690 went a step further, and directly transported the injured subject to Billings for advanced medical treatment.
After the rescue, both teams returned down the mountain and back to the staging area without incident.
This search and rescue operation was a major physical and logistical undertaking, and was only made possible by the efforts made by each responding agency and individual. This was a team effort.
