RANGELEY — Fire Rescue Chief Tim Pellerin said Monday that snowmobilers need to slow down and give the right of way to emergency rescue sleds responding to accidents.
On Sunday, a snowmobiler was injured in a crash on ITS 89 about 5½ miles from the crossing at Boy Scout Road, he said. Three of the department’s six emergency snowmobiles and a rescue toboggan, along with firefighters and a NorthStar EMS ambulance paramedic, responded to the 11:17 a.m. crash.
The snowmobiler was taken to Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington with injuries not considered life-threatening, Pellerin said.
He said snowmobilers did not give the right of way to the emergency sleds to allow them to get to an injured person. People were blowing by them even as the patient was tended, he said.
“It is unlawful not to pull over, stop or pass these vehicles on the trail,” Pellerin said. “When they don’t, it jeopardizes not only the rescuers but the victim.”
The department’s emergency snowmobiles are clearly marked and all have emergency red lights on them. There is a Star of Life on the rescue toboggan, Pellerin said. Responders also had their safety vests and safety jackets on.
People need to slow down and use caution and pay attention to what they see on the trails, especially if they see something that does not look right, he said.
Rangeley rescue personnel cover over 200 miles of snowmobile trails all the way to the New Hampshire border.
dperry@sunmediagroup.net
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