Father ‘learned lesson’ after he and young child were rescued from San Francisco cliff

SAN FRANCISCO — A father said he “learned a lesson” Saturday about the dangers of climbing on coastal cliffs after he and his young child became trapped while trying to climb down a cliff at Fort Funston to the ocean below, fire officials said.

The pair were safely rescued after their walk at Fort Funston at about 11:30 a.m. Saturday turned treacherous, according to San Francisco Fire Lt. Jonathan Baxter. Fort Funston is known for its 200-foot-high sandy bluffs above the Pacific Ocean on San Francisco’s southwest coast.

“They saw how beautiful the water was below, and they attempted to walk down the cliff, which is something we advise people not to do,” Baxter said in a video posted to the department’s Twitter account.

CHILD AND DAD RESCUED OFF CLIFF AT FT FUNSTON WATCH STORY ON @abc7newsbayarea First photo credit @abc7newsbayarea additional 3 SFFDPIO free to use pic.twitter.com/qLP4fzSUCw

— SAN FRANCISCO FIRE DEPARTMENT MEDIA (@SFFDPIO) September 19, 2020

When the pair got about halfway down the cliff, about 70 feet above the shore below, they realized they were stuck, Baxter said. “They couldn’t go down, and they couldn’t go back up,” Baxter said.

Fortunately, the father was able to use his phone to call 911 and give the dispatcher pretty precise details of his location, Baxter said. Emergency crews had to hike into the area, about a mile from the parking lot. Three rescue rope lines were lowered and it took about an hour to bring the pair to safety, Baxter said.

“This could have had a much worse ending,” Baxter said. “It could have resulted in injury or death.”

Baxter said the father “did give some encouraging advice, that they had definitely learned a lesson today.”