Crews rescue man in UTV quarry crash
Jun. 21—It took a crowd of firefighters, paramedics and police to rescue a man whose UTV rolled over a hillside and pinned him underneath it Saturday morning.
Emergency crews from multiple departments and ambulance companies managed to locate 57-year-old Richard Kavanaugh after a three-hour trek through brushland to the "Bahamas" quarry in Mahoning Township. He was by himself when they got to him, according to Mahoning Township fire chief Francis "Poncho" Exposito.
The state police, who investigated the crash, reported that Kavanaugh, of New Middletown, Ohio, had been riding with a friend in a Polaris Razor side-by-side ATV when the vehicle rolled over an embankment around 5 a.m. The other man was not injured and sought help.
Kavanaugh reportedly suffered broken arms and ribs and other possible injuries, Exposito said. He was conscious and talking during the rescue, and was flown to St. Elizabeth's Youngstown Hospital. His condition was unknown on Monday.
Exposito said the ATV rolled down a 60-foot hill, overturned and landed on top of Kavanaugh.
"He was in a very hard place to get to, and we had to walk in there by foot," Exposito said. "We had umpteen men there from all different fire and police departments.
"We got called at 8:30 a.m.," Exposito said.
They found him in the "Bahamas" area of the quarries, and he was surrounded by water, Exposito said. He said it was in an area that only two-wheel motorcycles could have accessed.
"Getting to him and carrying him on foot, at times we were in 2 1/2 to 3 feet of water, then up and down hills, be it muddy water or 1 1/4 miles off of a good path," Exposito said, adding, fortunately, it was cooler Saturday than it was last week.
When emergency crews found Kavanaugh, "he was in a very dehydrated situation," he said. The paramedics went into the area and pumped fluids into him and "packaged" him — putting splints on him and securing him on a backboard. The firefighters assisted them in carrying him out.
"Sometimes we had to use rope to go up the hills while pulling him out," Exposito said.
Exposito said Kavanaugh's location was spotted by a STAT MedEvac helicopter flying over the area.
"We used the helicopter for our eye in the sky," he said.
The helicopter managed to land on a spot on a path in the quarries, and the firefighters and paramedics carried Kavanaugh to it for transport. The helicopter lifted him at 4:10 p.m., more than 11 hours after the reported accident.
Had the helicopter not landed there, the crews would have had to walk another 3/4 mile carrying him, Exposito said.
The emergency units changed parking locations three times during the rescue, he continued. The initial call was that Kavanaugh was somewhere off Hoffmaster Road, then the units moved to a lot off Churchill Road, then ultimately they moved to the lot where the old coal tipple is, off Route 224.
The emergency crews left the area shortly after 4 p.m., and it took the firefighters another two hours to clean all of their equipment, Exposito said.
He estimated about 25 to 30 people were part of the rescue effort.
Responding to assist Mahoning Township and the state police were the fire departments of Neshannock, North Beaver, Pulaski and Union townships and Bessemer Borough, as well as the police departments of Bessemer and North Beaver townships.
"It was a long day, but it was very good team work by the departments that were there," Exposito said. "It was frustrating we couldn't get to him, but rewarding because we got him out alive.
"We can't stress enough that the Hillsville quarries are extremely dangerous and are closed to the public," he added.
