The Ithaca Fire Department rescued a college-aged male from the gorge above Ithaca Falls early Saturday morning, according to the fire department’s press release.
Cornell police called the Tompkins County Dispatch at approximately 12:30 a.m. to report that the man was under the Stewart Avenue bridge, according to the release.
The fire department wore water rescue gear and used a 24 foot ladder to enter the gorge off of Willard Way — walking through a sluice for the old Ithaca gun factory to reach the injured man — according to the release.
Cornell police are currently investigating the motives and causes of this incident, according to the release.
Working by the light of the ladder trucks, firefighters placed the man in a stokes rescue basket to carry him across the water and then used a rope system to carry him up the ladder, according to the release. After the Cayuga Heights Fire Department set up a landing zone on Jessup Field, the man was airlifted in a LifeNet helicopter to Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse, New York.
Off duty firefighters were called in as well as neighboring fire crews to help manage emergency calls in the area, according to the release.
The entire rescue mission lasted about two hours. The current condition of the man is unknown, the release said.