Helicopter rescues 9 from Zoar Valley
Hikers, two dogs stranded after rains spur flash flood
By Elmer PloetzN EWS STAFF REPORTER
Updated: 07/01/08 7:23 AM
When Erie County Sheriff’s Capt. Kevin Caffery landed his helicopter near a group of stranded hikers early Monday, his first passengers out of Zoar Valley weren’t people.
They were a pair of Labrador retrievers — one black and one golden.
“The dogs were about as happy as the people were to be rescued,” Caffery said. “The aircraft was running full throttle, and these dogs, it was like they knew it was their only way out, and they were going to go whether anyone else did or not.”
“They just jumped up, sat in the seats and were looking out the window.”
Caffery and Deputy Gary Mosier, a tactical flight officer, also flew the nine young hikers — aged 17 to 22 — out of the Zoar Valley gorge about 5:45 a. m.
The hikers and their dogs had spent the night huddled around a small fire on a ledge above Cattaraugus Creek after heavy rains Sunday afternoon triggered flash flooding in the South Branch of the creek, cutting off their return path.
They were examined at Tri- County Memorial Hospital in Gowanda and released. One hiker suffered mild hypothermia and had taken some water into his lungs.
Gowanda Fire Chief Steve Raiport said the hikers were about 3,500 feet from a parking lot on state land, about a mile below the falls on the South Branch. The narrowness of the creek there makes flash flooding more common than on the North Branch.
“They were in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Raiport said. “The rain started and the creek came up really fast.”
Raiport said he received the 911 call about 8 p. m. when he and many of his fellow firefighters were helping direct traffic and picking up after a benefit for Sgt. James Hackemer, the Gowanda High School graduate who lost both of his legs in Iraq earlier this year.
The Cattaraugus County Sheriff’s Office was able to use the call the hikers made to 911 to place them using Global Positioning System technology. Caffery then did a flyover and spotted them.
The rescue was postponed overnight, though, as fog flooded into the valley.
Rescuers tried unsuccessfully to drop blankets to the hikers.
As morning came and the fog lifted, Caffery said, he found a spot where he could put the helicopter skids down on the ground.
“We had them walk along the bank to where the aircraft was and put them in two at a time,” he said.
Caffery said family members were waiting at the staging center for the hikers.
“There was a dad who was there all night,” he said. “He was just thrilled when he saw his daughter.”
According to authorities, the hikers were: Greg Carlyle, 20, Megan Mahoney, 19, and Katie Valint, 20, all of the Town of Tonawanda; Seth Clark, 20, Brandon Felix, 20, Brandon Gorman, 21, Nicholas Kelly, 21, and Maxwell Mahoney, 20, all of Kenmore; and Allyssa Curran, 17, of Williamsville.
State Police Sgt. Thomas Kelly, based in the Collins barracks, said state rangers would investigate whether the hikers had strayed onto private land.
Kelly said the hikers were fortunate to be able to make telephone contact because communications in Zoar are always difficult.
“Because of the terrain, communications is an issue all in itself,” he said. “It is a gorge. Cell phones don’t work there. Portable radios don’t work very well there.”
Added Raiport, “Every time we get a call down there, there are seven or eight agencies involved. We were putting a game plan together all night long.”
The creek was still running high late Monday morning, its color like chocolate milk being stirred.
“I don’t think some of those people who go down in there realize how dangerous it is,” said Caffery. “A lot of times instead of bringing blankets and rescue gear, we’re flying down there with body bags. . . . It was great to get nine people out of there.”
And two dogs.
News staff reporter Gene Warner contributed to this report. eploetz@buffnews.com
