Town of Burlington
Otsego County
Water Rescue/Recovery: On Jan. 6 at 2:45 p.m., a subject walking his dog called 911 after seeing two ice fishermen fall through the ice on Basswood Pond. Forest Ranger Laymon was at the Jacobs Road trailhead one minute away from the pond. Ranger Laymon saw one of the men treading water, but lost sight of the other. The ice was approximately one-inch thick, unsafe for fishing. The Ranger entered the ice, crawled toward the 42-year-old from Richfield Springs, and used a throw bag to help the subject out of the water. The subject grabbed the rope and Ranger Layman pulled him onto a sled. At 2:55 p.m., the Ranger pulled the sled to shore where he was met by members of the Edmeston Fire Department, who used their truck to start the drying and warming process to help the subject suffering from hypothermia. Ranger Laymon headed back to the ice to search for the second man, the first subject’s brother. At 3:05 p.m., Ranger Laymon located the 41-year-old from Richfield Springs in seven to eight feet of water. New York State Police, Otsego County Emergency Services, and Edmeston, Fly Creek, Schuyler Lake, and West Edmeston volunteer fire departments helped pull Ranger Laymon and the submerged man out of the water and onto shore. At 3:23 p.m., the subject was transferred to EMTs who began CPR. Both subjects were taken to the hospital. The first was treated and released. The second subject was declared deceased by the hospital later that night.
Ranger Nate Laymon describes the rescue in video available to download (144 MB).
Video of the rescue effort is available to download (16 MB).
Information about ice safety is available on DEC's website.
