A 69-year-old man was rescued early Saturday morning from beneath Cold Spring Bridge after his car rolled into a ditch off Highway 154 and he descended nearly 200 feet through steep terrain, sustaining moderate injuries.
At 5:57 a.m. on December 20, Santa Barbara County Fire and American Medical Response (AMR) crews responded to a report of a man found at the abutment footing under the bridge, according to Fire spokesperson Captain Scott Safechuck.
“Firefighters have reached a 69-year-old male found at the abutment footing under Cold Springs Bridge after his vehicle went into a ditch adjacent to Hwy 154,” Safechuck wrote in an update posted to X. “The man then scurried approximately 200 feet through brush and steep terrain, falling and sustaining injuries.”
Emergency crews used a rope rescue system to lower the man down to Cold Springs Road, where he was transported by ground ambulance to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital with what fire officials described as minor to moderate injuries.
The exact circumstances of the incident remain unclear.
According to Officer Gutierrez of the California Highway Patrol, the man had been driving a blue Honda that “rolled backwards down the hill into the ditch. They got out and then rolled down the ditch then called fire to transfer to hospital.”
The incident remains under investigation.
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