One of the final calls of 2022 for local firefighters was a complex forest rescue. The incident occurred in the Lower Paugussett State Forest, where rough terrain and rapidly diminishing late afternoon light challenged rescuers.

Three fire companies and Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps were ultimately dispatched mid-afternoon, December 30, after a 29-year-old woman called 911 to report she fell in the woods and suffered a possible broken ankle.

First responders were initially sent to the state forest’s Blue Zoar Trail by way of the Leopard Drive access point. Leopard Drive is a dead-end off Kale Davis Road in Sandy Hook, west of the forest.

The hiker was located approximately 1,900 yards north of the end of Leopard Drive.

After locating her, first responders carefully moved her to safety by way of Stone Bridge Trail, another dead end, off Berkshire Road, south of Leopard Drive. She was then transported to the hospital to be checked for her injuries.

It took nearly three hours to complete the rescue call.

Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire & Rescue Deputy Chief Ryan Clark said it was a long extrication process due to the terrain. Firefighters carried the woman about a quarter of a mile before reaching a point where she could be transferred onto an all-terrain vehicle (ATV). It was another quarter of a mile from there before the group was able to exit the state forest.

“It took a while to find her,” Clark said. “They used GPS coordinates to find her, and she was in an area with rough terrain.”

Clark estimates 30 firefighters responded to the scene, which was within Sandy Hook’s area of coverage. Sandy Hook firefighters were the first to go into the forest.

“When they found her, and we organized how we were going to remove her, we decided it was going to be easier to take her out by way of Stone Bridge, even though Leopard Drive was closer as the crow flies,” Clark said.

“Once that extraction route was determined, we added Botsford and Stevenson fire departments to help carry her,” he explained. “If we’d gone out by way of Leopard, we’d have to carry her the whole way.”

Additional equipment and manpower from Botsford Fire Rescue and neighboring Stevenson Volunteer Fire Co helped as rescuers worked against the sinking sun. The first call for help was received at 2:13 pm Friday, and sunset was 4:33 pm.

“By the time they found her, and then carried her, it was getting dark,” according to Clark. “The last half of the removal was in the dark.”

The patient was loaded into an awaiting ambulance at 5:30 pm. She was “stable and cooperative” once they found her, the deputy chief said.

Managing Editor Shannon Hicks can be reached at shannon@thebee.com.