When a male hiker was stranded on a mountain near Phoenix for 13 hours last week, he got help from a surprising source: a weight-bearing drone.
In a first-of-its-kind mission for the area, the Phoenix Fire Department used a DJI drone to send supplies to the injured hiker on Camelback Mountain, keeping him safe until rescuers could finally reach him in the morning.
It all started last week, when Phoenix’s first responders received reports of a stranded hiker around 8 p.m. on the evening of Tuesday, Dec. 16. They were able to locate the hiker using a helicopter, but decided it was “too dangerous” to rescue him at night, according to a statement from the fire department…