Police say the man in his 60s fell after trying to pick up litter around the pothole.
ARCHBALD, Pa. — It took emergency crews roughly an hour and a half to rescue a man who fell into the pothole at Archbald Pothole State Park in Lackawanna County.
“He was actually picking up a cup that was there on the side, and right now the leaves are wet,” Archbald Police Chief Tim Trently said. “There’s a lot of leaves here because obviously it is fall, right? So he slipped on the leaves, and he fell about 40 feet onto a lower landing.”
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First responders got to the area off Business Route 6 just after noon.
Multiple agencies from across the county relied on their training to bring the man, who is in his 60s, to safety.
“We have trained here,” Trently said. “We have rappelled to the bottom and did some training over here with our fire and rescue over the years, but it’s been some time since we had this type of emergency here.”
State Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Park Manager Lee Dillon showed Newswatch 16 the area where the man was rescued.
“When you see a fence, it’s there for a reason,” said Dillon. “We understand that you may lose something over it, but don’t go over the fence that is there for your safety to make sure that things like this don’t happen.”
As the seasons change, Dillon knows more visitors will be coming to the park.
He asks them to enjoy the scenery but stay safe while doing so.
“We want them to come out,” said Dillon. “We want them to experience it and see it and enjoy it, but we also want them to go home safely.”
As the scene began to clear, Chief Trently said the man was taken to a nearby hospital for a back injury but was expected to be OK.
“I think our volunteers, did an excellent job today,” said Trently. “They worked together all the time, and they really came together today and, and showed the professionalism that’s in our departments.”
Archbald Pothole State Park is open to the public following the rescue.