Man pulled from Sandy in river rescue

Firefighters load an unidentified man into the back of an ambulance with a stretcher. The man was pulled out of Sandy River Tuesday evening, near Prescott Field.

FARMINGTON - An unidentified man in his early 20s was pulled out of the Sandy River near Prescott Field Tuesday evening, after a friend saw he was down on his stomach in the water.

First responders scrambled to the athletic fields, located off Front Street, after dispatchers received a call just after 6:20 p.m. from an acquaintance of the victim. Farmington Police Department Sgt. Michael Adcock said that the caller initially reported the man in the water was near the old railroad trestle, but Farmington Fire Rescue quickly learned the actual location was closer to Center Bridge. Firefighters hauled the face-down man, whom Adcock said may have been unconscious, out of the river near the small, beach-like area at the far corner of Prescott Field.

NorthStar EMS transported the man to Franklin Memorial Hospital. Paramedics believed the man would recover, Adcock said. He declined to identify the man at the scene, but described him as in his early-20s. He may have been drinking before swimming, Adcock said.

"The fire department did a great job getting down here so quick," Adcock said on the bank of the Sandy River.

The Sandy River is low and slow-moving this time of year, thanks to a relatively dry summer.