Three hikers were stranded overnight Tuesday in the Coast Range, and their desperate call for help saved them -- but also landed two of them in handcuffs because of their previous entanglements with the law.

The Tillamook County Sheriff’s Office said Steven Harrigan and Natalie Ladu were among the group that planned to hike in the Tillamook Burn area. The group parked at a locked access gate, entered the forest and eventually called authorities, saying they were “frozen and unable to move,” according to the sheriff’s office.

Their call for help was transferred from Washington County to Tillamook County early Tuesday evening, and a search was launched.

Searchers found their cars, and they spotted the group’s footprints shortly before midnight.

They found the group about 3:30 a.m. Wednesday. No one needed medical attention.

Harrigan, 45, was arrested for being a felon in possession of a firearm, the sheriff’s office said.

Ladu, 37, was arrested on a Washington County warrant for a parole violation and possession of methamphetamine, according to the agency.

The third hiker, 31-year-old Alex Meyers, was not arrested.

The rescue came amid the coronavirus outbreak, which has taxed public agencies and prompted Oregon Gov. Kate Brown to instruct people to stay home except when traveling for essential work, buying food and similar critical supplies, or returning to their own homes.

People should only engage in activities outside their home, the governor said, if they can maintain a six-foot distance from others to avoid spread of the virus. Walking, running and hiking are fine, according to the governor’s announcement, but not parties or other celebrations.

“Please remember that even if recreating at specified COVID-19 social distancing, that in the event you need rescue or medical assistance, you no longer are social distancing, and you place rescuers at risk and burden an emergency / medical system which is already being taxed,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.

The Tillamook Burn ravaged the Oregon coast in 1933 after being sparked by a logging operation. The flames were fueled by 100-degree weather, and its remote location made fighting it nearly impossible.

-- Jim Ryan; jryan@oregonian.com; 503-221-8005; @Jimryan015

Mike Rogoway contributed to this report

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