Tragic fall results in fatality above Devil’s Canyon

What started out as a fun fishing trip among three Lovell relatives in Devil’s Canyon ended in a fatal accident on the Hole-in-the-Wall foot trail Thursday when one lost his footing and fell over the cliff’s edge.

“Scott, Brad and Bill Baxendale had a successful day fishing in the canyon as they often had many other times, when Scott mentioned he had never seen the top of the Hole-in-the-Wall trail and they thought it would be a great cap to the day to take a drive along there,” Sheriff Ken Blackburn said.

The trio drove out of the canyon along the rim and got out to observe and look around near the side.

“It was a windy afternoon and there was some smoke in the air, and some brush in the area, and it is unknown exactly how it happened, but Scott Baxendale accidentally slipped and began falling, and in the process of falling, his speed increased and he went over the side of the canyon and fell down,” Blackburn said.

Brother Brad and uncle Bill immediately tried to help and assist him, but they realized he had landed more than 100 feet below them, and they got as close to him as they could but were not able to reach him, the sheriff said.

Brad left Bill at the scene to drive where cellular service was available and called for assistance and rescue personnel.

The Search and Rescue teams and Sheriff’s Office were notified at 4:51 p.m. and began responding.

Ropes teams from both the north and south end of the county, along with the north’s Search and Rescue squad members, responded rapidly to the scene, along with deputies from the Big Horn County Sheriff’s Office.

As rescue efforts arrived on the scene, First Flight of Wyoming had already accepted the mission in hopes it would be a “recovery mission” and had landed their helicopter in the area.

Immediately after arriving to the Baxendales, Search and Rescue teams set up rigging and ropes and began rappelling their descent down the cliff.

“This is why we have highly trained rope rescue teams,” Blackburn said. “It seems like some of the terrain that we have, we’re constantly needing rope rescue, and these guys have trained and elevated themselves to some of the highest levels of training possible.”

Among those rescuers going over the side was North Big Horn Hospital physician’s assistant Jack Carpenter, and upon making contact with Baxendale, he was able to determine that he was deceased and the mission changed from a rescue to a body recovery.

County Coroner Mike Jameson directed the Sheriff’s Office, and the recovery efforts were successful.

As the investigation continued, GPS locations on the deputies’ devices detected that the actual location of the incident was about 100 yards across the Montana border.

“That threw a slight curveball at us,” Blackburn said. “We had to contact the Big Horn County, Montana, Sheriff’s Department and coroner.”

All departments are continuing to work together smoothly, and those jurisdictional items are being taken care of as needed, and Blackburn noted that the Montana departments were great to work with and were very thankful for the local aid and supportive of the family and mission at hand.

“The cause of death, as in cause, manner and time of death will be determined officially by the Coroner’s Office,” stated Blackburn. “However, there were no signs of foul play. This was simply an accident and a tragedy, and no one in the family was doing anything wrong in any way, shape or form.

“It was a very sad incident, and our hearts and prayers go out to the family that is grieving at this time for the loss of their loved one.”

He also gave praise to the Search and Rescue team and the exceptional job they did.

“It was a real example of how professional and quickly they can work in both the north and south,” he said. “The teams worked together in unison to accomplish this difficult task.”

Units were demobilizing between 10:30 and 11 p.m., and the last crew started closing out the mission around midnight.

SPECIAL THANKS

Since it was a protected rescue, many of the responders had gone a considerable length of time without eating and spent the afternoon and evening at the location.

“We want to give a special thanks to the Lovell Country Store,” Blackburn said. “When we were trying to arrange getting some food up there for these rescuers, they immediately offered to stay open late and do whatever it took to make sure that the volunteers, deputies and all personnel were taken care of. We sure appreciated their community-minded willingness in this difficult situation.”

In total, there were more than 35 responders at the scene, including North Big Horn Hospital ambulance crew and First Flight of Wyoming’s team.

“People oftentimes don’t understand, take for granted or don’t realize the sheer volumes it takes to accomplish these calls,” said Blackburn. “The reality is, they had to lift this person in the neighborhood of 300 feet vertically in order to get him back to his loved ones, and that is not something that can be done easily or quickly. It takes an army.

“The volunteers on these crews leave their families, homes and activities at the drop of a hat when called upon to serve this community, and their dedication is phenomenal.”