"Teenage hiker is billed $25,000 for rescue" by Holly Ramer, Associated Press | July 18, 2009
CONCORD, N.H. - A Massachusetts teenager who spent three nights alone on Mount Washington in April after he sprained an ankle and veered off marked trails has been fined more than $25,000 for the cost of his rescue.
Oh, I SEE! Some FRENCH FOOL can cost us $80,000, but an AMERIKAN KID is going to be FINED for HIS RESCUE!!
Un-flipping-f***ing-real!!!!
Scott Mason had been praised for utilizing his Eagle Scout skills, sleeping in the crevice of a boulder and jump-starting fires with hand sanitizer gel. But authorities say he was not prepared for the conditions he encountered and should not have set out on such an ambitious hike....
So much for your 15 minutes of being a hero, kiddo!
Obviously, the kid isn't a Jew who sailed around the world.
Fish and Game Major Tim Acerno said he believes that Mason’s fine is the largest ever sought under a nine-year-old New Hampshire law that allows lost hikers and climbers to be charged for rescue costs. Mason’s rescue was particularly expensive because the helicopters the state typically used were unavailable, and a helicopter from Maine had to be brought in, Acerno said.
And that is HIS FAULT?
Mason’s family said they would not comment on the bill, which was mailed July 10. Mason has until Aug. 9 to pay the bill; he could also take the state to court to contest the fine. Mason, 17, of Halifax, had planned to spend one day hiking 17 miles in the New Hampshire mountains but ended up lost after he hurt his ankle and decided to take a shortcut. The shortcut led him into rising water and deep snow caused by unseasonably warm weather....
When was that warm weather, Globe? WTF?
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