Sunday, April 23rd, 2023, at 8:28 a.m. (EST), our system received an offroad request for a recovery in New York submitted by Joe.
He drove his 2022 Ford Bronco with permission into a private property into a pond. He stated that the vehicle stopped working and didn’t start anymore, and we suspected it was hydro-locked.
In this upper part of the state, we have very few volunteers. We explained this to Joe. After verifying the contact information and location, we submitted the ticket to a dozen volunteers within 100 miles of the incident. We also shared with our recovery partner’s page New York 4×4 Rescue.
Around 8:50 a.m., we had a healthy group of volunteers discussing the situation in our chat room/Lobby. The general worry was around the fact the vehicle was submerged, and with all the electronics in that kind of vehicle, the possibility of a total lockdown of the transmission system.
From the group of volunteers, Liam Quackenbush, who was 2 hours away, drove to the location to help. The vehicle was about 20 feet from solid ground.
Liam’s note: “Drained a lot of water, 18+ inches. Can about walk up to the vehicle. If it can’t be taken out of the parking position, it will need heavy recovery. They are on leased private property with permission. One jeep pulling and me winching didn’t move it.“
So in this opportunity, unfortunately, even with two volunteers working in tandem, with the amount of suction from the ground, the recovery was impossible. But regardless, we want to Thank Liam Quackenbush, who drove many hours to assist.
We stayed in communication with Joe, who originally requested the offroad recovery. The next day, he let us know he was finally able to get the vehicle out after securing the usage of a log skidder.
