Photos: Andrew Goff.

A whole slew of Humboldt Bay Fire resources were sent to Lucas Avenue on the outskirts of Eureka this afternoon after hearing about a pickup that had gone over the side of the road and down into a greenbelt area. They had word that the driver — the vehicle’s only occupant — required extrication.

That turned out not to be the case, as firefighters found that the man was able to crawl out of the cab and get himself into the bed of the pickup on his own. But Humboldt Bay Fire still had a tricky rescue on its hands — they had to get the man up a fairly steep slope to safety.

With the help of a rope line assembled on site, they got down to the man, strapped him into a brace and onto a backboard, and got him up the hill and into an ambulance, where he was transported to the hospital.

Officer Jeff Keller of the California Highway Patrol, who spoke to the Outpost at the scene, said that the cause of the crash is still undetermined. The man appears to have been traveling west on Lucas — away from Myrtle Avenue and toward Harrison — when he drifted across the road, through a fence and down into the ditch.