Truesee's Daily Wonder

Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer

San Francisco Chronicle April 29, 2011 06:28 PM

(04-29) 18:28 PDT Oakland, CA -- Park Ranger Dave Flores was riding shotgun in a green East Bay Regional Park District truck in the Oakland hills overlooking the bay Friday morning when something caught his eye - sunlight reflecting on metal, some 200 feet below Grizzly Peak Boulevard.

Flores, 29, told his co-worker to stop at about 10:30 a.m. He looked closer, and realized that the glint he saw was coming from the roof of a car. The ranger scampered down a steep embankment and found a mangled silver Honda Civic.

Flores feared the worst, and hoped for the best.

He got a little of both.

"There was a guy in the car, and I opened the door, and he was OK," Flores said. "He said, 'Hi,' and I said, 'Hey, you're going to be all right.' And the rest is history. Fire came, and we got him out of there."

Then 53-year-old James Wright of El Cerrito stunned his rescuers even further when he told them how long he had survived his harrowing ordeal on the hillside, after crashing his car - as far back as Monday, when his family first reported him missing.

"He was in surprisingly good shape," Flores said. "I couldn't believe how good a shape he was in. He didn't seem injured. He seemed really tired and thirsty, that was the main thing. He wanted a sip of water - badly."

But there was to be no water yet for Wright. Paramedics wanted to play it safe, fearful that after being dehydrated for nearly four days his body wouldn't tolerate straight liquid.

So they gave him an IV, and then spent about an hour using a rescue basket and ropes to hoist Wright out of the dense brush between Centennial and South Park drives. It was bright and sunny when firefighters finally hauled him out of the basket and onto a stretcher on Grizzly Peak Boulevard.

From there, it was off to Highland Hospital in Oakland, where he was expected to recover. There were no major injuries apparent when he was rescued.

Authorities said Wright may have had a medical issue that caused him to veer his car off the road. The Honda slammed to a stop near the bottom of a ravine, apparently - and fortunately - without rolling.

The driver was apparently too weak to climb out and, as paramedics had feared, he hadn't had any food or water. Firefighters had to use a chain saw to cut through heavy brush to reach the car.

Wright probably did not have a cell phone with him, Flores said - though that didn't matter much. "It might not have done a whole lot of good had he had one anyways," because of spotty cell phone reception in the hills, the ranger said.

One of the most remarkable things about the rescue was how "surprisingly calm," Wright was given the circumstances, Flores said. "I have to give him a lot of credit for being calm and working with us. He was pretty awesome."

Wright told rescuers he believed he had been stuck in his car for three days - but it might have actually been closer to four days. His family had first reported him and his 1999 Honda missing at 6 p.m. Monday, and the last confirmed sighting of him was that morning, said El Cerrito police Corp. David Wentworth.

It's not uncommon for vehicles to go over the side of the road in the Oakland hills. But if the cars are found - quickly or otherwise - the drivers are often dead or gravely injured.

Flores said it was lucky he was riding as a passenger in the park district's truck. He said he didn't think anyone behind the wheel would have been able to spot the wreckage.

"We're really proud of Dave for being alert and for being trained to get help right away," said Isa Polt-Jones, a park district spokeswoman.

Flores, a ranger for nine years, said he doesn't feel like a hero, and downplayed his role in the rescue. "I feel extremely lucky that I could help this guy, and I'm so happy that he's OK," he said. "I'm so glad that he and his family can be reunited."

Battalion Chief Robert Lipp of the Oakland Fire Department said Flores was perhaps a tad too modest.

He said the ranger should be lauded for having noticed "something out of place and investigated, and that's how this gentleman was found.

"It seems fairly miraculous to me" that Wright survived after all this time, Lipp said.