After a private plane crashed on June 30 in a rural area of Delaware County, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation forest rangers quickly organized search efforts to locate the crash site.
The search required coordination among numerous state and local law enforcement agencies, fire departments, and emergency personnel. Search crews first found pieces of the plane’s wings and tail.
By nightfall rangers and personnel from the New York City Department of Environmental Protection found the rest of the wreckage and determined that all five people on board the plane had died, including four members of a Georgia family.
The following day, rangers returned to the scene to assist other agencies in extricating the victims’ bodies, which were turned over to the coroner.
The following reports are excerpted from DEC:
On July 4 a ranger found a gun while searching Archer Vly Pond, which he turned over to the Saratoga County Sheriff’s Department.NYSDEC
On July 4 rangers received a report of a gun on state land at Archer Vly Pond. A ranger searching the water found the firearm, which he turned over to the Saratoga County Sheriff’s Department.
A 26-year-old from Rochester injured his ankle on July 3 while hiking the Street Mountain trail. A ranger splinted the man’s ankle and helped him down the trail to three other rangers who then paddled him across Heart Lake where he was met by a Lake Placid ambulance.
A 16-year-old camper fainted multiple times while hiking with a group on Terrace Mountain on July 4. As rangers assisted the group to a parking area, the teen fainted again. Shandaken Paramedics transported the teen to the hospital.
Rangers on July 5 rescued a hiker on Lyon Mountain who was suffering from exhaustion and dehydration.NYSDEC
A hiker on Lyon Mountain suffering from exhaustion and dehydration called for help on July 5. Rangers helped her back to the trailhead and turned her over to EMS.
On the afternoon of July 4, a woman had a seizure on Hinckley Reservoir’s Beer Can Beach. Rangers cleared fallen trees and limbs so volunteer fire departments could drive emergency UTVs to the beach. Rescuers stabilized the woman and transported her by boat across the reservoir to the boat launch where an ambulance was waiting.
Two people couldn’t be located after jumping into the water at a Long Lake marina on the night of July 4. Rangers searched overnight for the swimmers. One was found out of the water; dive teams the next morning found the other person, a 66-year-old from Slingerlands, deceased. The body was turned over to the coroner.
Campers in Warren County found a rattlesnake in their lean-to last week. Rangers removed and relocated the snake.NYSDEC
Campers in Warren County found a rattlesnake in their lean-to on the afternoon of July 6. Rangers removed and relocated the snake nearby so the campers could retrieve their gear.
On the night of July 4, a 52-year-old from Kinderhook called 911 after injuring his ankle while hiking on Giant Mountain, approximately half a mile above the washbowl. Rangers helped him down to the trailhead, where he sought medical attention on his own.
Two hikers got lost on the evening of July 5 somewhere between Mount Marcy and Upper Ausable Lake. Rangers found the hikers around midnight and guided them back to Adirondack Mountain Reserve.
On the night of July 5, a ranger patrolling Rocky Point State Forest came across a despondent woman trying to harm herself in her car. The ranger and Suffolk County Police helped her out of the car. She was then transported to the hospital.
On July 5, rangers rescued an exhausted 50-year-old woman who was hiking Ampersand Mountain, in the Adirondack High Peaks region.NYSDEC
On July 5, an exhausted 50-year-old woman called for help while hiking Ampersand Mountain, in the Adirondack High Peaks region. Two rangers helped her back to the trailhead.
A 57-year-old from Walton hurt his knee on the night of July 5 while hiking the Mount Van Hoevenberg trail near Phelps Mountain. An assistant forest ranger assisted the hiker to the Marcy Dam outpost and linked up with other rangers who rehydrated the hiker and helped him back to his vehicle.
A 45-year-old from Manhattan injured her leg on Ampersand Mountain on July 6. Rangers assisted her back to the trailhead.
A 42-year-old from Massena fell approximately 30 feet while rock climbing in Snow Bowl State Forest on July 7. Rangers provided first aid and state and local police helped carry the injured climber to a LifeNet helicopter that flew him to the hospital.
On July 7, a ranger on canoe patrol on White Pond saw a man in the water clinging to another person’s kayak. The man, who was wearing a personal flotation device, had rolled his canoe and was unable to flip it back over because he couldn‘t swim. The ranger used a throw rope to tow the kayaker and his kayak half a mile to shore.
A hiker injured her ankle near the summit of Cascade Mountain on July 8. Rangers splinted her ankle and helped her back to her vehicle.
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Steve Featherstone covers the outdoors for The Post Standard, syracuse.com and NYUP.com. Contact him at [email protected] or on Twitter @featheroutdoors. You can also follow along with all of our outdoors content at newyorkupstate.com/outdoors/ or follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/upstatenyoutdoors.