Ben Limerick and Hannah Blaquiere of the Paris Fire Department assist a 15-year-old girl who fell down Snow Falls Gorge into the Little Androscoggin River in West Paris on Thursday afternoon. They are assisted by others using ropes to lift her up the 30-foot cliff. Chief Mark Blaquiere/Paris Fire Department
WEST PARIS — A 15-year-old girl was plucked out of Snow Falls Gorge by rescuers Thursday after falling about 30 feet into the icy waters.
The girl, who was not identified, was taken to Stephens Memorial Hospital in Norway with minor injuries and hypothermia, according to Oxford County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy James Urquhart.
She fell from a cliff into the water at about 2:45 p.m, he said in a news release. As rescuers were responding, sheriff’s officials got reports from bystanders that the girl had managed to grab onto some rocks.
Once rescuers arrived, police, fire and rescue crews were able to reach the girl and get a life jacket and series of ropes to her.
“Utilizing a rope hoist system,” Urquhart wrote, “emergency responders were able to retrieve the female from the water and raise her up from the streambed to the roadway about 30 feet.”
The series of falls along the Little Androscoggin River is a scenic outlook next to Route 26.
Ben Limerick of the Paris Fire Department helps a 15-year-old girl over rocks toward a litter to be pulled up Snow Falls Gorge in West Paris on Thursday afternoon. The girl suffered minor injuries and hypothermia when she fell 30-foot from a ledge into the Little Androscoggin River.
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