The Chardon Fire Department received a call at 5:25 a.m. Aug. 3 to assist the Geauga County Sheriff’s Office with a search of a lost person in a wooded swamp area north of Lake Aquilla off of Aquilla Road in Claridon Township.
The male juvenile had reportedly entered the woods north of the incident at approximately 2:30 a.m., became lost and disorientated and became stuck in thick vegetation and unable to exit the woods without assistance, said Chardon Fire Department Lt. Brian Davidson in a press release.
“The Chardon Fire Department duty crew and personnel coming in for shift change responded with an ambulance, utility vehicle and an all-terrain vehicle,” he said. “Mutual aid assistance was received from Windsor Fire Department of Ashtabula County with an UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle, drone) for aerial reconnaissance.”
Due to the thickness of the vegetation, efforts to access the juvenile via all-terrain vehicle were unable to be made, the lieutenant said.
Rescuers were able to reach the juvenile on foot, accessing him from a private property off Meadowood Drive in Claridon Township.
He was able to exit the wooded swamp with rescuers’ assistance at approximately 6:55 a.m., Davidson said.
The juvenile was treated on scene for mild hypothermia and minor cuts and scrapes. He was transported by ambulance to University Hospitals Geauga Medical Center.
