In brief: Climbers injured in Mount Rainier fall

MOUNT RAINIER NATIONAL PARK, Wash. – Three climbers were injured when they fell into a crevasse on Mount Rainier.

KING-TV reported the climbers fell 50 feet about 3:30 a.m. Sunday at Emmons Glacier. The climbers, all Canadian, were rescued by helicopter after another climbing party found them Sunday morning.

Two of the climbers were critically hurt and taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. A third climber was taken to another hospital. No other information about the accident was immediately available.

The Seattle Times reported that rain over the weekend as high as 11,000 feet had later frozen, causing icy conditions that led one climbing team, RMI Summit Guides, to end its bid for the 14,411-foot summit at the 11,200-foot level. Team members had encountered treacherous conditions and turned back Sunday, making their way across Cowlitz Glacier to safety at Camp Muir and back to the base.

About 10,000 people try to summit Mount Rainier every year, and slightly more than half reach the top, according to park information. The Emmons Glacier route is one of the most difficult for climbers.

Body found under Seattle bridge

SEATTLE – Police said they’ve recovered a body found floating under Seattle’s University Bridge.

A woman called authorities Thursday morning to report that she’d heard about the body from two other people.

The Seattle Police Department’s Harbor Unit recovered the body from Portage Bay, an arm of Lake Union that leads into the Lake Washington Ship Canal.

The medical examiner’s office took custody of the remains and is investigating.

No other details were immediately released.

Beaver Creek fire fully contained

KETCHUM, Idaho – The once-massive Beaver Creek fire near Sun Valley is fully contained.

That was the news Monday from fire incident commander Scott Johnson about the 170-square-mile fire that burned one home and threatened hundreds of others in mid-August.

Johnson said engine and hand crews patrolled the southern portion of the fire and determined no significant perimeter hotspots remained.

No active fire behavior was observed for the second day running, a key indicator for crews that the Beaver Creek fire no longer represents a threat to the region.

Now, crews will focus on repairing damage caused when they created fire lines before they pack up their tents and depart.

Longer term, however, much work will likely have to be done to control erosion.

The U.S. Forest Service is still evaluating closures.