Multiple first responder agencies were dispatched late Saturday evening after two men were reported missing after they went for a canoe ride on Lake Lillinonah. The brothers were successfully rescued, but not before spending time in the cold water and then a few hours on the shoreline.

The Newtown residents, ages 28 and 31, had been canoeing on Lake Lillinonah during the afternoon of Saturday, March 20. They had reportedly contacted their parents, saying they would be home for dinner, but then did not return as expected.

Newtown Hook & Ladder, Newtown Underwater Search And Rescue (NUSAR), Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps, and Newtown Police Department officers were all dispatched at 10:46 pm to the Pond Brook boat launch along Hanover Road. DEEP was also dispatched for the incident.

Newtown Hook & Ladder Assistant Chief Jason Rivera was incident command.

“We were told that they had headed out around 3 pm. They texted around 6:30 saying they were on their way back, and the parents had not heard anything since,” Rivera said March 23. “The vehicle of one of the sons was still at the boat launch, so they obviously hadn’t made it back there.”

First responders staged in the parking lot of the boat launch. Hook & Ladder and NUSAR each launched a boat with a search crew, with Hook & Ladder’s boat heading south first.

NUSAR Assistant Chief Mike Cassetta said the canoe the men were using had flipped, after which the men had to swim to shore.

“The water is about 40 degrees right now,” Cassetta said. “You can only last a few minutes in that water, due to the temperatures.”

Both men were wearing life jackets, which Cassetta said “probably saved their lives.”

In addition to keeping them afloat and making it easier to get to shore, the life jackets were seen by rescuers.

“One young man was waving his life jacket, which we saw, even in the dark,” Cassetta said. “That helped us find them.”

After being spotted, the men were helped into NUSAR’s boat and then transported back to the boat launch. They were checked by ambulance personnel, and then transported to a hospital for further evaluation.

“They were suffering from hypothermia, exhaustion, and exposure,” Rivera said.

In addition to the Newtown responders, Rivera called for a boat from Brookfield. That town’s rescue boat was unavailable, so Bridgewater sent a team to the Route 133 boat launch. Rivera said Southbury was also dispatched for the call.

“Southbury requested the Region 5 Dive Team, so they were assembling to start operations on their side of the river,” he said.

Hook & Ladder had 12 responders at the scene, and NUSAR had 11 members respond.

First responders were able to clear from the scene around 12:24 am Sunday.

NUSAR’s assistant chief called the incident “a great cooperative effort. Everybody worked fast, cooperatively, and professionally.”