MONTAGUE — Firefighters from multiple area departments helped rescue an injured hiker on Sunday afternoon.
According to a post on the Facebook pages for both the Turners Falls and Montague Center fire departments, crews from both departments and their Amherst counterparts were dispatched to assist a man with a leg injury behind a Dry Hill Road residence at 5:13 p.m. The Western Mass Regional Technical Rescue Team and additional Turners Falls personnel were then dispatched due to the terrain and weather conditions.
Crews stabilized the patient and brought him nearly an eighth of a mile over steep terrain and slippery conditions, according to the Facebook posts. The man was then transported to a hospital via an Amherst ambulance.
Luke Hartnett, chief of both the Turners Falls and Montague Center departments, said in a phone interview that the hiker sustained a lower leg injury after slipping on the ground.
“He tried to make his way out, but the pain, I think, got too great,” he said.
Hartnett praised the rescue personnel’s teamwork.
“The guys are amazing,” he said. “And just the cooperation amongst these crews is top-notch.”
The Greenfield Fire Department covered the Turners Falls station and, in turn, Bernardston covered the Greenfield station during the extrication.
