State Department of Environmental Conservation forest rangers and environmental conservation officers responded to unprepared and injured hikers and an illegal burn in Franklin and Essex counties in the past few weeks.

–

Eclipse rescue

–

Ray Brook dispatch received a call about an injured hiker near the summit of Saint Regis Mountain on April 8 at 4:32 p.m. Rangers called for State Police aviation assistance, and at 6:15 p.m., pilots and forest rangers hoisted the hiker, 29, from Elmira, from the trailhead and flew her to a hospital. Forest rangers on the ground helped the rest of the hiking party out of the woods. Resources were clear at 7:40 p.m. This was the only rescue forest rangers were called to on the day of the eclipse.

–

Unprepared hiker

–

Ray Brook dispatch received a call from a hiker requesting a ride on April 5 at 9:05 p.m. The hiker, 22, from Massachusetts, said that his camping gear got wet while on the Rooster Comb trail. Since the hiker was uninjured, dispatch told him to make his way to the trailhead, get a ride and find lodging for the night. The hiker called again at 9:30 p.m to say that he was too cold and unable to navigate the steep embankment with his bike.

Forest ranger Robert Praczkajlo responded to the call, hiking to his campsite to retrieve the bike and gear and then helping the hiker to a local motel. The hiker was not dressed appropriately for the cold, snowy and icy conditions, wearing only sneakers, jeans and a light jacket.

–

Illegal burn

–

DEC forest rangers engaged in air operations observed someone burning a large pile of construction and demolition debris in the town of Harrietstown on March 25 and notified Ray Brook dispatch. Environmental conservation officers Nathan Favreau and Jeffrey Hovey, who were on patrol in the area, were dispatched to investigate. The ECOs responded to the reported location of the burn, where they discovered a plume of black smoke and a person operating an excavator near a burning pile of construction debris. They instructed the person to extinguish the flames, explained New York’s open burning regulations and ticketed him for the illegal burn.