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John Lesch, who was living in a homemade shelter near the Susquehanna River, is helped to shore Friday evening by Plymouth firefighters and emergency response personnel called to rescue him from rising waters near the Black Diamond Bridge.
S. John Wilkin/The Times Leader
EDWARDSVILLE – A homeless man was rescued by boat Friday afternoon from his campsite surrounded by rising waters from the Susquehanna River.
John Lesch, 66, was living in a homemade shelter on a patch of high ground near the Black Diamond Bridge close to the river.
He was brought to safety around 6 p.m. and escorted from the area to be checked out by emergency medical personnel.
Edwardsville police officer Matt Bonawits said no charges would be filed against Lesch who choose to stay with a friend rather than go to a homeless shelter.
Firefighters and emergency responders from Edwardsville, Kingston and Wilkes-Barre were called to the area around 4:30 p.m. and made calls to a number of departments with watercraft in an attempt to find a way to reach Lesch. Edwardsville Fire Chief Ray King arranged for Plymouth Fire and Rescue to provide a 16-foot boat with an outboard motor. However, the three men onboard used paddles and a pole to navigate through the trees to get to the camp.
“I’m terribly sorry about this,” Lesch could be heard telling the men as the boat approached. Flashes from a camera could be seen as Lesch took photos of his rescuers.
He was assisted into the boat and sat down for the short trip of several hundred feet to the base of the steep bank of the railroad bed where firefighters and first responders waited. A Canadian Pacific train making a scheduled run on the line that borders Kirby Park was stopped during the rescue. The locomotive engineer joined the crowd of approximately 20 firefighters and first responders on the scene.
“Oh Lord,” said Lesch as he was helped out of the boat.
Walking along the tracks to the paved path runs atop the levee through the park he said what got him into the predicament was a “long story” that he was not ready to tell.