Caroga Lake Firefighters Establish Landing Zone at Station 3 for Critical Medical Evacuation

Caroga Lake, NY - Firefighters and emergency medical personnel coordinated a helicopter landing zone Saturday evening to airlift a seriously injured ATV operator following an off-road collision in the neighboring town of Bleecker.

On the evening of September 5, the Caroga Lake Volunteer Fire Company was requested on mutual aid by the Meco Volunteer Fire Company to establish and secure an emergency landing zone at Caroga Lake Fire Station 3. The request followed a severe all-terrain vehicle crash in Bleecker that required rapid trauma care and aerial evacuation.

Caroga Lake responders secured the perimeter, established safety lighting, and coordinated communications as LifeNet 72 touched down safely on the station grounds. Working alongside Lake Valley Ambulance paramedics, fire personel asisted with patient handling, packaging, and the transfer of the injured rider to the flight medical team.

Prior to and during the operation, incident commanders and ground crew notified the LifeNet pilot of an active commercial fireworks display taking place nearby—the Caroga Arts Collective's annual Labor Day fireworks show. The display launched while the flight crew was inside preparing the patient for transit, with the ground-to-air cordination ensuring the show had no impact on flight safety or the patient transport mission.