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Rescues on lakes and snowmobile trails

This past week in the Adirondacks, the state Department of Environmental Conservation rescued fishermen from a floating ice sheet, helped an injured snowmobiler and and rescued a couple whose vehicle got stuck on a snowmobile trail.

Lake Champlain rescue

On Mar. 1 at 3 p.m., DEC environmental conservation police officers (ECOs), DEC forest rangers and the Cumberland Head Fire Department helped two anglers stranded on a floating ice sheet on Lake Champlain in the town of Plattsburgh.

Fire department personnel accessed the men, from Plattsburgh, with an inflatable rescue craft and brought one of them safely to shore. When rangers arrived on scene, two fire department personnel and the second angler and his gear were still on the ice sheet. ECOs and rangers launched the airboat, and Ranger Glen Bronson was able to retrieve all parties and gear from the ice and bring them back to shore.

Snowmobile crash

On Mar. 7 at 5:22 p.m., DEC’s Ray Brook dispatch received a call from Franklin County 911 advising of a snowmobile crash on the C7 snowmobile trail in the town of Brighton. The snowmobile operator appeared to have struck a power pole.

Forest Rangers Hannah O’Connor, Melissa Milano, Lt. Kevin Burns, and ECO James Cranker responded to the scene, along with the Saranac Lake and Paul Smiths-Gabriels fire departments. The rider was packaged by emrgency medical responders and transported approximately 1 miles to state Route 86 in Gabriels, where forest rangers established a landing zone for a New York State Police Aviation helicopter. The snowmobiler was transferred to North Country Life Flight medics for air transport to University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington, Vermont. Rangers and ECOs were cleared of the scene at 7:30 p.m., and State Police is investigating the incident.

Stranded vehicle

On Mar. 7 at 7:06 p.m., DEC’s Ray Brook dispatch received a request from State Police for assistance locating a vehicle reported stuck on a remote snowmobile trail in the Debar Wild Forest in the town of Duane.

Forest Rangers Melissa Milano and Hannah O’Connor responded with snowmobiles to conduct a search for the vehicle and occupants. ECO James Cranker assisted with communications. At 10:03 p.m., the rangers located the 59-year-old couple from Peru, New York, and their vehicle further down the snowmobile trail. At 10:33 p.m., rangers and the couple were out of the woods, and the vehicle owner made arrangements to have the vehicle removed.

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