Women's retreat group rescued from Camelback Mountain

PHOENIX — More than ten people are being rescued off Camelback Mountain after having heat-related issues.

At about noon Thursday, Phoenix firefighters were called to Echo Canyon trail, where at least 11 people were reported to need medical attention on the mountain.

Firefighters say the patients are among a large women's retreat that started up the trail this morning.

The group of women started a hike around 7 a.m., but triple digit temperatures quickly arrived.

At the time of the rescue, it was over 100 degrees.

The group of women were being led on a physical test during the retreat.

"She encouraged all the women to go up, make it to the top. They made it to the top, made it to the final destination. It was just coming down," says Kesia Carter of California.

They tell ABC15 they were filming for a reality show series called "Bad Girls Gone God" when the heat became unbearable.

"We got into a little bit of turbulence. I started feeling the turbulence early on and started having heart palpitations and the heat was just a little bit too much for me," Carter said.

Separate hikers saw their struggle and called 911. Triple digits quickly hit and eight women of their group of 13 needed help.

Tatiana Robinson had to be airlifted. She laughed it off, "It was my first time on a helicopter, that was pretty scary."

The Phoenix Fire Department and rescue crews had to use their helicopter and big wheel basket to remove five of the hikers.

"We were not prepared," Robinson admits. "We didn't even get that much sleep."

Phoenix Fire says some only had a small bottle of water.

"We kept stopping and we had no water so the more that we stopped, the harder it got," says Robinson.

Three had to be taken to the hospital for heat-related injuries. Phoenix Fire reports all three are stable, but it was a difficult rescue.

Phoenix Fire says the hikers were spread out between several mile markers of the trail.

"God bless you guys," says Carter to the first repsonders. "Thank you so much for coming and rescuing our crew."