A man had to be hoisted to safety after plunging 40 feet down a hole at an abandoned missile site in Chatsworth.

Los Angeles city and county firefighters used a pulley system to raise the man from the hole at the decommissioned Nike missile site in Chatsworth after friends say he fell while they were drinking and smoking during a party there early Sunday morning.

Rescuers arrived around 4 a.m. and were finally able to get the man out of the hole and safely onto a gurney around 6:30 a.m. The man's friends said they are thankful for the emergency workers who saved their friend, who is now being treated at a hospital.

The Nike missile sites are relics of the Cold War era, according to the National Park Service. They housed Nike antiaircraft missiles and were commissioned to defend against possible aerial attacks from the Soviet Union.

About 300 Nike missile sites were active throughout the country between 1959 and 1974, according to the NPS.