Hovercraft put to use saving girl Teen, warden rescued after crossing thin ice

ELLSWORTH – A teenage girl who “needed some fresh air” ran across the thin ice of Graham Lake on Monday morning to a small island just offshore. After she was located by a game warden, both were rescued by a crew in a hovercraft.

A hovercraft from Brewer was called into service for the incident and towed on a trailer to the scene approximately 20 miles away by rescue workers.

“She was cold,” Game Warden Phil Richter, 48, said after being plucked from the island by the hovercraft crew. “She wasn’t clothed to be outside, for sure, just jeans and sneakers.”

And her legs and feet were wet, “because she had broken through part of the ice on the way over” to the island, which is located a couple hundred yards offshore, Richter said.

The 14-year-old girl, whose name was not released, is enrolled in the KidsPeace program, which is a “national children’s crisis charity dedicated to giving hope, help and healing to children facing crisis,” according to a press release from the agency.

She left her classroom in a building near the lake just before 9 a.m. saying she needed some air. Her teacher “followed her outside to make sure she was all right, but she ran down to [the] frozen shore of Graham Lake and began running across the ice toward a nearby island,” according to the KidsPeace press release.

The teacher was unable to follow due to the lake’s thin ice. Within 10 minutes of calling for help, Richter arrived. He is a diver for the Maine Game Wardens and understands the dangers of traveling across waterways that are slightly frozen, he said. Even so, he donned a life jacket and headed across the ice to search for the girl.

“It was really bad ice,” he said. “It wasn’t good. Probably at the thickest, it was probably a couple of inches. That’s why we didn’t come back across on foot.”

He said he moved gingerly while crossing the ice, noting that when he heard it cracking, “you always get a shiver up the spine.”

Richter, in his 18th year as a game warden, found the teen sitting on a rock on the island. To keep her warm, Richter wrapped his jacket around the girl and handed over his hat. The two discussed sports, school, family and friends while awaiting rescue.

The Bon Ton IV, a 19-foot, 3-inch hovercraft purchased for the Bangor region in April 2006 through a $59,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, was called into service for the rescue. The game wardens own two air boats and a hovercraft, but the Bon Ton IV, docked in Brewer, was closer and the Brewer Fire Department offered their services, Richter said.

The Hoverguard 1000 is shared between the fire departments of Bangor and Brewer and is available for use by area communities.

Monday’s incident is the first time the hovercraft has been used for a rescue, Brewer Assistant Fire Chief Chris Dore said.

“Last year, we got a call that something was stuck in the [Penobscot] river,” he said. “This is its first official use to rescue a person.”

Lt. Robbie Wildes piloted the craft, and firefighters Scott Stewart and Tony Cobb assisted.

Scott Conners, executive director for KidsPeace Graham Lake campus, could not say enough about the emergency crews that arrived to assist.

“The response by the Maine Warden Service, the fire departments, and others on staff was exemplary and we thank them with all our hearts,” he said. “In this part of Maine, we all know how dangerous the ice can be at this time of year and we and the girl owe a debt of gratitude to the swift and brave rescuers. In particular, warden Richter’s actions were nothing short of heroic. All the responders were amazing.”

Richter said he’s not a hero.

“That’s what game wardens do,” he said.