A camping and hiking expedition on Long Island in the Kennebecasis River turned into a nightmare for a man and his two dogs Monday evening.
The Kennebecasis Valley Fire Department responded to the call of a stranded person in a perilous position late in the afternoon.
“We made the determination that there was someone stranded there, however they were located on Minister’s Face probably about 70 to 75 feet above the water,” said Kennebecasis Valley Fire Platoon Chief Mike Boyle.
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Boyle says a man was hiking on the island with his two dogs when the mishap occurred.
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“Unfortunately his dog went over and fell off from where he was,” said Boyle.
“He couldn’t see his dog at first, so when he went over to try to see where his dog was and potentially rescue his dog from the cliff, he then fell himself”
It’s estimated the man fell between nine and 22 metres.
It was quickly determined a rescue would have to take place from above.
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Kennebecasis Valley, Saint John and Kingston fire departments, along with the Canadian Coast Guard, managed the challenging three to four hour rescue.
“Water rescues themselves are challenging,” said Boyle. “High angle rescues pose their own challenges, so when you start to combine them and then you have a remote location whereas if they wanted to access him it was going to be by foot. We obviously couldn’t get any vehicles or off road vehicles over there.”
The rescue was successful.
Despite the fall, the hiker was uninjured.
The dog he had been trying to rescue could not walk and was taken to a local veterinarian for examination.