Man Rescued From Green River At Lock 6 Area Early Friday Morning

Green River at the former Lock 6 area (Edmonson Voice file photo).

Darren Doyle, story and photo:
An Anneta man was pulled from the icy waters of the Green River during the early hours of Friday morning in a water rescue at the former Lock 6 area in Brownsville.

According to Edmonson County Emergency Management Director Terry Massey, local dispatch paged the Brownsville Fire Department around 2AM after a caller said a possible drowning had occurred at the Brownsville boat ramp, at the Brownsville bridge. According to radio traffic, the potential victim was a 40-year old male.

Massey said he and firefighters arrived but no vehicles or persons were there, with no sign of anyone having been there. Massey said the caller had given the wrong location to dispatch and crews were then paged to respond to the Lock 6 area instead, which is a couple miles up the river.

EM Director Massey said that Kyrock was then also paged and crews arrived on scene soon after.

"Myself and another firefighter arrived at the area and we saw two vehicles but nobody was in them," he said. "In just a minute, we could hear some yelling down at the river and could tell it was downstream a good ways."

Massey said he and the firefighter followed the commotion and the firefighter found the man about 200 yards downstream in about a foot of water, lying on his side.

"Tim Skees (firefighter) pulled him out of the water and we were able to get him up the bank and into my Jeep where we started trying to get him warmed up. He was already showing signs of hypothermia and it also appeared as if he was probably under the influence of something."

Massey said those on scene said the man, who was not identified, fell in the water after trying to retrieve some fishing gear.

The man was transported to Twin Lakes Regional Hospital by Edmonson EMS and is currently in ICU, according to Massey.

Also responding were the Brownsville, Kyrock, and Chalybeate Fire Departments, along with KY Fish and Wildlife.

"Our fire departments had boats en route, along with all the necessary equipment and manpower needed in this situation. There were probably 20 firefighters there," Massey said.