ITHACA, N.Y — The over 150 waterfalls in and around Ithaca are a draw for locals, students and tourists alike to visit and explore. But despite long-running education efforts, people continue to hike and swim in prohibited areas making gorge rescues a common occurrence — particularly as new students arrive in the fall, unfamiliar with the risks of the local water attractions. The problem isn’t new for the area — James Wheal, Assistant Chief of the City of Ithaca Fire Department (IFD) said in the warmer months, IFD responds to several gorge rescues a month.“We can feel it in our bones when we come to work on a beautiful Sunday morning that’s going to be an 85 degree Sunday afternoon,” Wheal said. “We know people are going to be in the gorges […] sometimes we go to three or four in a day and sometimes we don’t go to one for a couple weeks, but when the weather’s nice we go to the gorges on a pretty routine basis.”Wheal said the three main ways people sustain injuries in gorge areas are leaving the trail, hopping fences and being in the water. Injuries can require help from IFD and other emergency medical services and range from someone rolling an ankle or getting stuck in a gorge to something as severe as drowning. In May 2023, a man drowned while swimming at the base of Taughannock Falls, an area where swimming is prohibited. In July of the same year, a man was found at Ithaca Falls who also died by drowning. Designated outdoor swimming areas in the Tompkins County include Buttermilk Falls State Park, Robert Treman State Park and Taughannock Falls State Park. They have specific areas with lifeguards present, yet on warm days it’s common to see dozens and sometimes hundreds of people swimming in prohibited areas like Six Mile Creek.According to the City of Ithaca’s code, people cannot bathe or swim in any waters within the city that aren’t designated for these activities, making swimming in gorges illegal in addition to being dangerous. “You have to trust us that those [areas] are restricted for a reason, and often that reason is because we’ve been there before and maybe somebody’s lost their life there before,” Wheal said. He added that while students do contribute to many of IFD’s gorge responses, locals and tourists also get injured. “One of the hallmarks of Ithaca is that it’s a pretty transient place, a lot of people come here, spend four years or a lifetime or sometime in between, and so every year there’s a new crop of people who haven’t heard about the dangers of the gorges,” Wheal said. “Those are the people we end up encountering on a pretty routine basis. People just don’t know.”Education and monitoring effortsEducation about the dangers of gorges is critical because while water can look calm, the Nathaniel Rand ’12 Memorial Gorge Safety Education Program at Cornell University explains, “strong undercurrents, hidden rock ledges, and debris make them unsafe places to swim.”The Cornell program, named in memory of a student who died in a gorge drowning accident in 2011, includes an informational website, a gorge stewards initiative and a gorge safety video and brochure. Cornell requires new students to watch the gorge safety video and holds optional outdoor education events. Similarly, Ithaca College Assistant Director of Clery Act and Prevention Education Elyse Nepa said all incoming students are taught about gorge safety as part of a required orientation safety session. The session includes information about the importance of staying on trails and reading posted signs and even what types of shoes to wear while hiking. Nepa said retired Ithaca Police Department officers with experience in rescue operations also speak during the session. “[Gorge safety] is one of the things we spend probably the most time on, out of all of the safety tips slides,” Nepa said. “It’s one that we really want students to hear loud and clear, because it could be life or death.”In Cascadilla Creek and Fall Creek, 10 gorge stewards from Cornell’s safety education program are on the trails helping to inform and provide information to visitors every year from May to September. From when the program was implemented in 2012 through the 2023 season, observed infractions have decreased by 64 percent.Kevin Perry, director of the Tatkon Center for New Students and co-chair of the Gorge Safety Committee at Cornell University, said learning about the dangers of gorges from peers through the stewards program can help new students who may never have experienced gorges before.“It’s really about education so that folks know how to engage safely and where to engage safely,” Perry said.Started in 1984, the City of Ithaca also had a ranger program to advise visitors of regulations governing Six Mile Creek. All three dams, usually called First, Second and Third Dams, are popular swimming spots and can be especially dangerous when people cliff jump. The rangers did not have the ability to ticket or arrest people but were tasked with trying to minimize unlawful behavior like swimming and drinking alcohol. The city’s rangers were not always met positively. According to previous Ithaca Voice reporting, “rangers had reported being verbally abused, physically pushed or attacked and had even had rocks thrown at them” while the program was in place.To help provide support, rangers were given body cameras in 2016. Tompkins County and the Town of Ithaca also contributed funding to expand the program the same year, but in 2017 the city did not hire any gorge rangers. The city’s 2018 budget did not allocate funding for the program, effectively ending it.Rescue ResponseIFD responds to rescues in the city and town of Ithaca in addition to surrounding communities like Cayuga Heights, Trumansburg and Danby. The station has a minimum of 11 firefighters on duty at all times, Wheal said.IFD does not bill for their services whether a person needs emergency medical care or requires rescue, but gorge rescues can draw personnel away from the station. During any emergency situation where many firefighters are required, the station may need to call in off-duty personnel to be available to respond to another incident if one happens. Calling in off-duty firefighters and paying them overtime to cover the station for a few hours can come with a price tag up to $2,000-$3,000, Wheal said. While gorges and outdoor areas can be dangerous if the rules aren’t followed, Wheal emphasized that IFD never wants to scare people away from being in the gorges.“They’re one of the most incredible parts of being in this community, and we encourage people to get out,” Wheal said. “Stay on the trail, stay out of the water, don’t hop fences and obey the signage, that’s the message that we have.”The post Gorge rescues routine in Ithaca, safety and prevention education continues appeared first on The Ithaca Voice.First published by The Ithaca Voice.