According to California Highway Patrol Air Operations, the CHP is conducting a training exercise with the Atascadero Fire Department near Pine Mountain and the Salinas Riverbed today. The exercise involves loading and unloading a person onto a hoist attached to the CHP helicopter. Rescue services use a hoist to extract people from dangerous situations when ground personnel can not reach them easily. 

For more on this story, see the Jan. 29 edition of the Atascadero News.