Man rescued from power canal in Turners Falls

First responders pull up a man who was hanging onto debris piled against a bridge pier in the Turners Falls power canal through the abandoned railroad bridge just upstream from the 11th Street Bridge on Friday.

First responders pull up a man who was hanging onto debris piled against a bridge pier in the Turners Falls power canal through the abandoned railroad bridge just upstream from the 11th Street Bridge on Friday. STAFF PHOTO/PAUL FRANZ

A man, who was hanging onto debris piled against a bridge pier in the Turners Falls power canal, is pulled up through an abandoned railroad bridge just upstream from the 11th Street Bridge on Friday.

A man, who was hanging onto debris piled against a bridge pier in the Turners Falls power canal, is pulled up through an abandoned railroad bridge just upstream from the 11th Street Bridge on Friday. STAFF PHOTO/PAUL FRANZ

A man, who was hanging onto debris piled against a bridge pier in the Turners Falls power canal, is pulled up through an abandoned railroad bridge just upstream from the 11th Street Bridge on Friday.

A man, who was hanging onto debris piled against a bridge pier in the Turners Falls power canal, is pulled up through an abandoned railroad bridge just upstream from the 11th Street Bridge on Friday. STAFF PHOTO/PAUL FRANZ

First responders carry a man to a waiting ambulance after pulling him from the power canal just upstream from the 11th Street Bridge in Turners Falls on Friday.

First responders carry a man to a waiting ambulance after pulling him from the power canal just upstream from the 11th Street Bridge in Turners Falls on Friday. STAFF PHOTO/PAUL FRANZ

A man hangs onto ropes and a rescue hook as first responders prepare to pull him up through the gaps in an abandoned railroad bridge just upstream from the 11th Street Bridge in Turners Falls on Friday.

A man hangs onto ropes and a rescue hook as first responders prepare to pull him up through the gaps in an abandoned railroad bridge just upstream from the 11th Street Bridge in Turners Falls on Friday. STAFF PHOTO/PAUL FRANZ

First responders carry a man who was rescued from the Turners Falls power canal off an abandoned railroad bridge just upstream from the 11th Street Bridge on Friday.

First responders carry a man who was rescued from the Turners Falls power canal off an abandoned railroad bridge just upstream from the 11th Street Bridge on Friday. STAFF PHOTO/PAUL FRANZ

By DOMENIC POLI

Staff Writer

Published: 10-27-2023 4:39 PM

TURNERS FALLS — Emergency personnel rescued a man who was clinging to debris in the Turners Falls power canal at around noon on Friday and transported him to the hospital.

The Turners Falls Fire Department was dispatched at 11:25 a.m. for a report of a man in the water between the bridges at Third and 11th streets and arrived four minutes later, according to Fire Capt. Mike Currie. The Greenfield Fire Department responded with a boat and manpower, and South County EMS sent a paramedic-level ambulance.

The man in the water, Currie said, was clinging to debris above the water’s surface and was eventually pulled up onto a closed railroad bridge with the assistance of Greenfield firefighters and Montague police officers. Currie declined to provide information about the man, his condition or how he ended up in the water.

“It was one of these calls that doesn’t happen every day,” he said. “We train for it rigorously ... and the training obviously proved to be successful, and everybody did a phenomenal job, all agencies involved.”

Currie said Greenfield Fire Lt. William Kimball operated a drone to assist in the rescue. He said all units cleared the scene at 12:32 p.m. The Montague Center Fire Department provided station coverage in Turners Falls.

Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-930-4120.