Ice fishing (drinking) accident on Hamilton Reservoir.
Howard Crow, Norm Butler, Dennis Bonetti, and Glenn Tracy were ice fishing and drinking all day. The fun day with fishing and drinking on the ice around the fire ended tragically.
From left to right, Glenn Tracy, Norm Butler, Dennis Bonetti with the 24 pack around the fire:
Around 18:30 tonight Howard Crow from Warren allegedly jumped on a 500cc Quad that belongs to Norm Butler and somehow crashed. It was already dark and nobody really knows exactly what happened. According to a statement of Norm Butler, also known as Chucky, “Howie jumped on the Quad without asking and tried to take off.”
Howard Crow had some heavy bleeding out of his mouth and nose and also had a laceration on the right side of his head. The State Police, Holland Police and Ambulance were called. The scene of the accident was just about 100 yards away form my house on 101 Maybrook Road.
The rescue crews had an excellent response time. Police and EMT’s initially accessed the ice via the little causeway, but the group of fishermen had no flashlights or flares. Rescue personnel initially did not know which direction to go. They had to spread out and begin searching the ice. Once the scene of the accident was found, the EMT’s quickly gathered information about the accident, and assessed Howard’s condition.
They dressed his head wound, started an IV and stabilized his neck. An onlooker tried to warm Howie by covering him with her jacket.
Howard was lifted onto a back board and then onto an ice sled.
A crew of 4 or 5 ran the sled across the ice. An ambulance was waiting for the ice sled on the southern end of Pine Tree Drive.
This was the best access point that rescuers could coordinate as it was the closest to the accident that would allow ambulance access. “Howie” was taken to Harrington Memorial Hospital. From there he may be flown via life flight to Umass. It depends on the severity of his injuries.
Chucky’s damaged quad:
Chucky and officer Alex Berry from the HPD and an officer of the State Police are inspecting the damaged quad:
Next weekend will be a 24 hour ice-fishing derby. Earlier today the fishing buddies informed me that they intend to fish (and drink) all night and all day and that “it will be noisy.” They advised me to prepare myself. The area around my house has been a preferred spot to ice fish for more then 25 years. I personally do not ice fish (or drink) at all.
I like the guys, they are also hunting together and always treat me to venison when they cook on the ice around my house. I wish they would know when to stop drinking. I hope that Howie will be ok and that this accident will be a wake up call for his buddies too.
January 23, 2010, Peter Frei