Press Releases

Contact: Deborah Turcotte, Spokesperson
Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
284 State Street
41 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333

Media representatives can receive press releases via e-mail.

Telephone: work (207) 287-6008 cell (207) 592-1164

Fax: (207) 287-6395

February 13, 2009

Friends Pull Snowmobiler from Sebec Lake

Sebec – A 33-year-old Acton man was pulled from Sebec Lake by three friends after his snowmobile went through thin ice near the outlet to the Sebec River tonight.

Scott Davis, 33, of Acton was riding with friends when the snowmobile he was on went into the water at approximately 6:50 p.m.

The friends -- Steve McCullan of Portland, Joe Muce of Acton and Todd Davis of Sanford -- formed a human chain and held on to each others' ankles to get a tow strap to Mr. Davis and pull him from the lake, according to Maine Warden Service Game Warden Dan Carroll.

"Ice was cracking around them," Carroll said. "It's a treacherous spot."

Mr. Davis was mildly hypothermic and warmed up in Warden Carroll's truck. An officer from the Piscataquis County Sheriff's Office later drove Mr. Davis back to his camp.

The friends needed assistance getting one of their snowmobiles off the thin ice. Warden Carroll said he donned appropriate safety gear to maneuver the snowmobile from the ice to land. The three men were assisted back to their camp.

Warden Carroll said some local residents saw what happened and called 9-1-1.

"The group was attempting to cross the lake in an area known for thin ice because of the outlet," Warden Carroll said.

This incident occurred a few hundred yards from where a teenager died last February while snowmobiling in inclement weather to a friend's house for a sleep over.

Tonight's rescue is the second one in less than two weeks where friends or bystanders pulled a snowmobiler who had gone through thin ice out of the water. The other incident happened January 31st on the Androscoggin River near Rumford.

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