Pennsylvania Firefighters Rescue Stranded Fisherman
Source The Tribune-Democrat, Johnstown, Pa.
A Johnstown fisherman has an interesting fish tale to tell -- should he want to.
Roby Gutilla, 51, was fishing along the banks of a downtown river Wednesday morning when he apparently lost his footing and was swept downriver.
He landed on a gravel bar at the point where the Stonycreek and the Little Conemaugh rivers join to form the Conemaugh.
After a passerby heard Gutilla's cries for help and called 911, Johnstown police and firefighters located him in the river.
Due to high river walls, firefighters John Boburchuk and Todd Fetchko used an inflatable boat to rescue the stranded fisherman, who they said was embarrassed, wet and cold, but otherwise unhurt.
Police Sgt. Patrick Goggin said Gutilla was within his rights to fish in the river, but said it is not recommended when the current is swift as it was Wednesday following heavy rains the day before.
"He is allowed to be there," Goggin said. "But that's a dangerous area -- especially on the Little Conemaugh side. There is a little dam and you get a really strong undertow there.
"We've had people drown in that."
Boburchuk said Gutilla told him he went over the dam before landing on the island.
"It's the most dangerous thing in moving water," the firefighter said. "Usually when someone gets in a lowhead dam, they don't come out alive. (The water) creates a circular motion.
"How he got out of it, I don't know."
Boburchuk said the fisherman told him the tennis shoes he had on were without tread and could have led to his fall.
But like every good fisherman, he had another explanation.
"He said he thought he got a pike or something and got pulled into the water," Boburchuk said.
Copyright 2012 - The Tribune-Democrat, Johnstown, Pa.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
