NORTHAMPTON COUNTY, PA – At 15:15 hours on Tuesday, July 19, water rescue personnel were requested to the Lehigh River in Northampton Borough for a water rescue. Fire 42 (Northampton), Fire 47 (Lehigh Township), EMS 49 (Northampton Regional) and Lehigh County Station 40 (Whitehall – Cementon) were dispatched.
4261 was on scene with a male in a white shirt in the river who had submerged under the water. EMS arrived on scene with a visual on the victim but reported he was not responding to them. Fire 42 personnel responded to Canal Street along the river while Station 40 personnel responded with their water craft to a launch site north of the incident.
The victim was seen stumbling around the edge of the river and falling into the water. Numerous attempts were made to contact him, but he failed to respond. Two rescuers entered the water from the Northampton side of the river and waded across to make contact. As the rescuers approached, the victim exited the water and took off running through the woods on the Whitehall side of the river.
A request was made for the Whitehall Police Department to respond to the area to search for the gentleman. With the victim out of the water, all rescue crews cleared the scene. It is unknown if the subject was captured.
