09/19/09
On
Saturday September 19th at 3:52 pm, Copake Firefighters were dispatched to assist in the rescue of an injured hiker
on Round Mountain on the Connecticut-Massachusetts border near Mt. Washington. Upon arrival, Egremont
Fire and Southern Berkshire Ambulance members had already made their way to the patient and had
stabilized the 43 year old New Jersey man. The man had fractured his right leg when he fell while hiking
and became trapped on a ledge. The rescue was successfully completed and Fire Departments were back
in service by 8pm.
One team of
rescuers brought the man to the summit of Round Mountain from the ledge and requested a helicopter extraction.
Another crew set out to find a suitable path and rigging points if the victim needed to be brought down via rope and
met up with the crew on the summit. A NYS DEC Ranger directed the helicopter extraction operation.
The man was airlifted to the Great Barrington airport where he was transferred to a Southern Berkshire ambulance and
taken to Fairview Hospital.
Rescue
crews on scene included Fire Departments ; Egremont Fire, MA; Copake Fire, NY; Sheffield Fire, MA; and the NorthWest Connecticut
Fire Department Task Force Rope Rescue Team, Massachusetts State Police, Massachusetts Environmental Police, Massachusetts
DCR Rangers, NYS DEC Rangers, and the NYS Police Air Unit. Hillsdale firefighters were put on standby for
Egremont.