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Wolf River rescue

ManĀ falls 10 feet onto ice

By Scott Bellile


New London Fire Department rescued a man who had fallen onto the frozen Wolf River early morning Friday, Dec. 30.

At 2:29 a.m., the fire department received a call to assist Gold Cross Ambulance with a man on the ice who had suffered a dislocated shoulder, according to New London Fire Capt. Don Conat. He estimated the man had fallen about 10 feet.

The fall occurred in the alley behind the Copper Shot bar. Conat said he believed the man was a patron of the bar and had lost his balance, tripping over the 1-foot concrete retaining wall along the alley. Conat declined to say if alcohol was a factor.

Firefighters went onto the ice and used a rescue basket to lift the man off the ice, Conat said. They brought him to land via the ramp to Taft Park. Along the way they encountered a shallow layer of water over a patch of ice and so loaded the man onto a rescue sled to pull him over the water.

The retaining wall, which is city property, had a protective fence on top of it several years ago but no longer does.

Ice rescue calls are ā€œgenerally uncommonā€ for New London Fire Department, Conat said.

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