By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org
PITTSBURG – A New Hampshire Fish and Game officer was undergoing surgery Tuesday afternoon at Concord Hospital after being injured in the line of duty Monday night while riding on a snowmobile.
Fish and Game Col. Kevin Jordan told members of the Fish and Game Commission Tuesday that Conservation Officer Christopher Egan fractured his leg requiring surgery after he crashed his snowmobile on Trail 139 in Pittsburg. He was attempting to pursue a sled he believed may have been unregistered.
It was at 5:20 p.m., after dark, when Egan witnessed two snowmobilers with apparent violations pass him going in the opposite direction.
Jordan said Egan described the incident saying he was standing up while going through a bumpy area of the trail that had just received new snow and had not yet engaged in pursuit when his foot struck the ground and “the machine rolled.”
Egan, of Pittsburg, radioed that he was having trouble breathing at 6:30 p.m. more than an hour after rolling his snowmobile.
He was alone but snowmobilers located him on Trail 139 just north of First Connecticut Lake Dam, Jordan said, and stayed with him until first responders and State Police arrived at the scene.
Jordan praised the first responders who were able to pull traction on Egan’s leg enough to realign his tibia and fibula, which was fractured at the boot top.
Fish and Game Director Scott Mason said he was relieved that the officer was not more seriously injured and that help was able to get to him.
Last June, Conservation Officer Matt Holmes was injured in Dummer when his ATV was hit from behind when he tried to stop two ATV drivers who were speeding.