State police today said they used a helicopter to rescue a 45-year-old Allegheny Allegany County man who was trapped at his mobile home for several days without heat, food or phone service. On Friday, Feb. 5, the man evacuated his family from their Flinstone, Md. mobile home off Maryland Route 144 in a remote mountainous region of Western Maryland, police said. He returned to the property to clear his driveway and to care for several animals, and was forced to remain at the home without a means of leaving the area, police said.

On Sunday, he lost power and heat to his home. As temperatures dropped, he ran out of food and lost phone service to contact his family, police said. On Tuesday, police were notified by the family and attempted to make a rescue using four-wheel drive vehicles and snow mobiles. But the deep snow prevented a ground rescue.

At 9 a.m., members of the Maryland State Police Aviation Command arrived in the area and found the man motioning to the helicopter, police said. A trooper was lowered from the helicopter and hoisted the victim up. He was suffering from moderate to severe hypothermia and has been taken to Western Maryland Regional Medical Center for treatment, where his condition was listed as "guarded." As for the animals he had returned to take care of, we're told they didn't make it out in the rescue.