Simon Wheeler

swheeler@ithacajournal.com | @IJPhotos

A college-age male was rescued from the Fall Creek gorge above Ithaca Falls early Saturday.

The Cornell Police Department called the Tompkins County dispatch center around 12:30 a.m. to report a man in the gorge below the Stewart Avenue bridge, above Ithaca Falls, according to Lt. Thomas Basher, of the Ithaca Fire Department.

Ithaca firefighters, in water rescue gear, entered the gorge off Willard Way using a 24-foot ladder to get into the water sluice tunnel in the south wall of the gorge. The tunnel is below the site of the former Ithaca Gun factory.

The sluiceway provides access to the south bank of Fall Creek upstream from the remains of the dam above the falls.

Under lighting provided by the ladder truck parked on the bridge, firefighters walked across Fall Creek to reach the injured man on the north bank of the creek upstream from the dam, according to Basher.

It is unknown as to how the man got there. The Cornell University Police Department is investigating, according to Basher.

Firefighters loaded the man into a Stokes rescue basket and brought it across the water. A rope system was rigged to lift the man up the ladder and out to waiting Bangs Ambulance personnel.

The Cayuga Heights Fire Department set up a landing zone for a LifeNet helicopter at Jessup Field on the Cornell University campus, and the man was flown to Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse. Off-duty Ithaca firefighters were called in, and Trumansburg and Newfield Fire Departments also were brought in to handle other calls in the city while the rescue was underway, according to Basher.

The entire rescue took about two hours. The condition of the injured man is unknown Saturday morning, according to Basher.

Follow Simon Wheeler on Twitter

DWI Watch: Recent charges in Tompkins

143 ALPACA DEATHS: Man pleads not guilty

CONCERTWATCH: The Boss heads upstate for 2 shows this week