Several fire departments work to rescue man from Gardner Lake
Salem — Several fire departments worked together Thursday morning to rescue a man who for some reason ended up in the frigid waters of Gardner Lake.
Gardner Lake Volunteer Fire Co. Chief Jim Savalle said a resident of Old Colchester Road called 911 about 9 a.m. and said a man was in the water and yelling for help.
Per protocol, dispatchers immediately called on the Bozrah, Oakdale and Gardner Lake fire departments to respond for a water rescue. The towns of Bozrah, Montville and Salem border the lake.
Knowing members of the companies would be out on the water, Savalle further called on Colchester to send an ambulance down as backup, should anything happen.
Savalle said members in the Gardner Lake boat quickly located the man and pulled him to safety. He appeared to be suffering from hypothermia, Savalle said. Crews took the man to the William W. Backus Hospital for treatment.
It was unclear why the man was in the lake, as the 20-foot, one-person boat he had been in was still afloat, Savalle said. The temperature of the water, he said, probably is somewhere between 38 and 40 degrees.
Savalle said the resident state trooper worked with the tax collector to determine the man’s identity, which was not immediately available Thursday. Bozrah firefighters brought the boat to shore, where members of the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection evaluated it.
“It was very quick,” Savalle said of the rescue. “The system worked. Our training worked. The lake was as smooth as glass and the rescue couldn’t have gone better.”
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