Photo provided by the Suffield Police Department
SVAA’s very-off-road Gator made its way up the switch-back trail, getting close to the action for the recent quarry rescue.
On February 27, at approximately 4:48 p.m., the Suffield Police Department received an emergency 9-1-1 call regarding a person who had fallen off a rock formation in the Suffield Quarry located on Quarry Road at Phelps Road.
This area is located in West Suffield near the Granby town line. The property, which is privately owned, is a location that is familiar to Suffield emergency services as the site where numerous similar emergency rescues have been conducted in the past. The top of the mountain is about a half-mile hike from the intersection of Quarry and Phelps roads. It is covered with trees, and the cliff facing the intersection is covered with sharp, ridged rock from past quarrying.
Suffield first responders from the Suffield Police Department, Suffield Fire Department, and Suffield Volunteer Ambulance responded and arrived on scene within minutes, providing emergency medical care to the 27-year old male victim, while members of the Suffield Fire Department and Suffield Volunteer Ambulance Association began deploying special off-road vehicles and equipment to rescue the victim.
The victim was treated, stabilized to prevent further injury, and transported approximately a quarter mile out of the wooded and rocky terrain. The victim, who is not a resident of Suffield, was transported to a local area hospital with non-life- threatening injuries by Suffield Volunteer Ambulance.
This rescue, which lasted approximately 45 minutes, was successfully and safely conducted as a result of the joint cooperation and interoperability of Suffield Fire Department, Volunteer Ambulance, and Police Department.
Suffield Police want to renew our request for people to stay off the Suffield quarry property. The owners of this privately owned area have authorized Suffield Police to make arrests of those found trespassing in this area. No Trespassing signs are highly visible throughout the area. Despite this, Suffield first responders continue to respond to several emergency calls at this site every year.
The last fatality at this location occurred during 2001 when an 18-year-old male from Agawam died from injuries sustained from falling from a 200 foot high cliff in the quarry.
The Suffield Police Department invites all members of Suffield’s community and beyond our town boundaries to follow our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/SuffieldPolice.