NY Forest Rangers Assist In Ice Rescue At White Pond

KENT, NY — It's a good thing State Forest Ranger Lieutenant Yuko Ashida was in the parking lot at White Pond on Jan. 20, talking to anglers about measuring the thickness of the ice.

Because at 2:47 p.m., an angler ran over reporting someone nearby had just fallen through the ice on the pond.

The high on Saturday was 22 degrees.

Ashida grabbed a personal flotation device and a throw bag and ran to the location, where a nearby angler had already pulled the 65-year-old from Patterson out of the water, New York Environmental Conservation officials said.

Ashida helped walk the fisherman to his car and met Ranger Griggsby Cowart and members of the Kent and Kent Cliff fire departments.

Cowart helped the man out of his wet clothes and into a sleeping bag for warmth. He was checked out by EMS and declined further medical care, officials said.

The 129-acre White Pond was previously a New York City reservoir and is now the center of New York State's 263-acre White Pond Multiple Use Area in northern Putnam County.