Busy season of rescues continues for forest rangers

Tasks included getting copters for hurt hikers, fighting remote fires

Helicopters were deployed several times to pull injured hikers from the woods, and fires in hard-to-reach places kept forest rangers in the Adirondacks and other upstate areas busy during the past week, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

On Sept. 22 at 12:10 p.m., an injured 64-year-old hiker from Indiana was on Baker Mountain. He went off the trail, fell and injured his right leg. Rangers provided first aid, and due to the extent of the injury, called for a State Police helicopter along with backup rescuers, including members of Search and Rescue of the Northern Adirondacks, in case a carry-out involving rope protection was needed on the steep terrain. A helicopter completed the hoist rescue off the mountain at 4:18 p.m. The hiker was hospitalized.

On Sept. 23 at 3:15 p.m., a group of hikers reported that a 60-year-old woman from Bath had dislocated her left shoulder on the trail for Phelps Mountain. The caller reported that they believed the subject’s shoulder was back in the socket and that they had tied a belt around the injured woman’s shoulder to keep it in place. The group continued down to Marcy Dam, where they were met by a ranger who provided a sling for the injured shoulder and escorted the hikers to the outpost, where they were given a ride back out to their vehicle.

On Sept. 24 at 10:30 a.m., a 60-year-old man from Warren, Connecticut, had a medical issue on the Stag River Trail on Whiteface Mountain. Rangers took the man to the Whiteface Ski Center where he was evaluated by Whiteface medical staff and transferred to Wilmington Rescue for transport to a hospital.

On Sept. 25 at 6:50 a.m., a 60-year-old Ballston Spa woman had a nonweight-bearing knee injury at the Ouluska lean-to on the Northville-placid Trail. Due to the remoteness of the area, rangers called for a State Police helicopter to assist in performing a hoist operation to extract the injured hiker. She was flown to a hospital.

On Sept. 25 at 3 p.m., a forest ranger received a call from Steuben County 911 to assist the Woodhull Volunteer Fire Department and other local volunteer fire departments with a fire that originated from a disabled motor vehicle along State Route 417. Due to the steep slope adjacent to the highway, the fire progressed quickly up the slope and spread into a mix of grass pasture and woodland timber litter, burning a total of 7.9 acres. The ranger patrolled the fire the following two days and extinguished small areas of ground fire in the fire perimeter.

Earlier, on Sept. 21, Livingston County 911 contacted DEC about a tree on fire in the Hemlock Lake State Forest. Three forest rangers used a boat to transport hose, pump and hand tools to fell and extinguish the tree in a hard-to-access area along Hemlock Lake. Then, while investigating the fire on Sept. 24, a ranger observed another fire 200 feet uphill from the Hemlock Lake fire. Rangers then conducted fire line construction and mopped up the second fire over the following days.

On Sept. 26 at 3 p.m., DEC’S Ray Brook Dispatch received a request for assistance for a 26year-old hiker from Queensbury with an ankle injury on Whiteface Mountain just below Hoyt's High. Three rangers arrived on at 3:34 p.m. via the ski trails and began to carry her down the mountain to an ATV. After loading her in the ATV, rangers continued down the mountain to meet the Wilmington Rescue Squad, waiting to provide further medical treatment.

On Sept. 26 at 5:15 p.m., DEC’S Ray Brook Dispatch received a call from a group of hikers on Pitchoff Mountain reporting that one of their group had fallen, hit her head and lacerated her leg. Five rangers responded and determined the woman was unable to walk out on her own. Rangers requested assistance from the Keene Valley Backcountry Rescue. With the bleeding stopped, rescuers carried the hiker out and arrived back at the trailhead at 9:32 p.m. The 51-year-old hiker from Westport was turned over to Keene Ambulance for further medical treatment.