VIDEO: The Phoenix Fire Department responded to more than 250 mountain rescue calls in 2019, more than one every other day.
Working with numbers provided by the Phoenix Fire Department, 12 News broke that number down by mountain and focused on the four busiest mountains in the area: Camelback Mountain, Piestewa Peak, South Mountain, and Papago Park. Papago Park had the fewest number of rescue calls, with 14. Piestewa Peak had 43 rescue calls that year. South Mountain had the second-highest number of rescue calls, 63. The highest number of rescue calls came from Camelback Mountain, with 90 in 2019 alone.
Why are there so many rescues? And how much is that costing taxpayers?
The Phoenix Fire Department does not keep track of what each individual rescue costs.