The Valmeyer Fire Department joined Monroe County EMS in responding about 7 p.m. Thursday to an injured female hiker on the Johnson Trail at the Salt Lick Point Land and Water Reserve.

The woman was transported by ambulance to an area hospital for treatment of a back injury, Valmeyer Fire Chief Floyd Floarke said, after the requested medical helicopter service said it could not fly due to storms in the area.

It is believed the woman tried to climb over a tree that had been knocked over the trail during Wednesday’s storm when she fell an estimated 10 to 12 feet, injuring her back.

Floarke said this was not the first time his department has responded to injury incidents at Salt Lick Point.

“We’re getting pretty good at it,” Floarke said, adding that the use of both the department’s and village’s ATVs proved helpful.

“It’s exactly why our department has an ATV,” he said.

Otherwise, emergency responders would have had to carry the injured patient about a mile to the ambulance.