Cave area known to trap spelunkers
Posted on Tuesday, July 22, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/News/232026/
Officials at Devil’s Den State Park have been looking for at least six months at ways to restrict access to an area of a cave where a 17-year-old Van Buren girl became stuck Friday.
Spelunkers get stuck in the area called Satan’s Maze every year in the Devil’s Den Cave, said Monte Fuller, the park’s superintendent.
Many are able to wriggle free before a rescue is required, he said. But rangers have to help explorers free themselves about once a year.
Another visitor became wedged as recently as six weeks ago in the same portion of the cave, he said.
Park administrators are in the process of developing the best way to restrict Satan’s Maze, Fuller said, which could include a gate or limiting the space to people who register in advance.
Bianca Calloway, 17, became stuck in Satan’s Maze on Friday and was freed 17 hours later.
It was her first time spelunking.
She was pinned about 500 feet below the surface of the cave after slipping off a ledge. Rocks jammed in her back, pinning her abdomen to other rocks.
The fall bruised her body and left her back badly scratched, said Menchu Calloway, the girl’s mother. The girl remained at Washington Regional Medical Center on Monday.
Fuller said the timing of Calloway’s rescue was coincidental in the park’s consideration of restricting the area, although the incident makes it a higher priority.
Satan’s Maze was closed after crews pulled Calloway from the cave but reopened Monday.