Pawlet, VT - Emergency dispatchers mobilized mutual aid resources to assist the Manchester Fire Department with a technical wilderness rescue involving an injured hiker in the rugged terrain of the Lye Brook Falls area.

While responding to the incident on August 9, 2026, the West Pawlet Volunteer Fire Department mobilized across Bennington County and was redirected to the Manchester Public Safety Facility to manage critical ground support operations.

Firefighters immediately set up and secured an emergency landing zone for Life Net Air Medical, ensuring safe touchdown conditions for the incoming flight crew, while simultaneously standing by to provide complete station coverage for the Manchester Fire District during the active call.

Ground rescue teams operating on the trail reached, packaged, and extricated the injured hiker from the falls area, transporting them directly to the established landing zone. Once the patient was transferred to the Life Net flight crew for rapid air transport to advanced medical care,

WPVFD crews were released from their mutual aid assignment by Manchester incident command, with all personnel clearing the scene and returning to full operational service later that evening.