Two elderly men survive storm after canoe flips

UPPER ENCHANTED TOWNSHIP — Two elderly men narrowly escaped Thursday when a sudden storm on a small pond southwest of Jackman caused six-foot waves to capsize their canoe, authorities said.

Ray Towne, 77, of Skowhegan and Vaughn Heffren, 68, of Fairfield were trout fishing in an 18-foot canoe on Grace Pond when a storm squall flipped the canoe over, dumping the two men into the pond, said State Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife spokesman Paul Fournier.

Towne and Heffren were about a mile from Grace Pond Camp when the heavy winds and rain hit, Fournier said.

The two men held on to the canoe while the wind drove them toward shore, Fournier said.

Fournier said a warden who was at the scene said he had never seen such big waves on such a small pond. Grace Pond is 1 1/2 miles long by 1 mile wide.

Jackie Rawson, the camp operator, helped Towne and Heffren out of the water with the assistance of several other guests, Fournier said.

Towne and Heffren were taken to the Jackman Medical Center where they were treated and released.