West Fairlee
Thetford Selectboard Chairman Stuart Rogers said in an interview on Friday that emergency officials responded to Treasure Island — a beach in West Fairlee that is owned by the town of Thetford — shortly after 9 p.m. Tuesday night for a report of a drowning.
In a news release issued by Thetford officials on Friday, the family of the child, who was not identified, said that their son “suffered a near drowning in the incident” and is “in the intensive care unit, and we now know he will not survive.”
Rogers said that the boy was at the beach with family when the incident occurred. The family was local to the area, and Rogers said he did not believe the boy was enrolled at any of the area camps.
“We ask all Thetford residents to join us as we extend our hearts to the child’s family, and we call for respect for the family’s privacy at this difficult time,” said Rogers.
The statement from the family said that “as we know him and his thoughtfulness and caring for others, we have chosen to stay in the hospital until he is able to donate his organs to help support others.”
Would-be beachgoers on Wednesday were greeted with a sign that the beach had been closed by order of the Selectboard.
Rogers said the beach was closed for two reasons; first, he said, the pads on the emergency defibrillator located on the beach had been used during the incident, so the beach was closed until the pads could be replaced.
There was also an unrelated plumbing problem at the public restroom that was being repaired that day, he said.
Rogers said the town had already filed an incident report with its insurance company, and that it would likely trigger a review.
Formerly a girls’ camp, Treasure Island is the only place on Lake Fairlee where the public can access the water to swim.
The town maintains two or three lifeguards on duty until 5 p.m., Rogers said.
A sign posted at the property says that Treasure Island is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., but Rogers acknowledged that the rule is not universally observed by the public.
Until recently, caretakers lived on the property year-round; one of their duties was to deter trespassers at night.
The town asked the caretakers to leave, while discussing ways to repurpose the building to serve Treasure Island’s visitors in other ways. Day-to-day oversight of the property is currently done by a nonresidential manager, who was hired to begin at the end of the caretakers’ period of residency, in May.
Rogers said that, even with a caretaker there, it was impossible to ensure total compliance with the posted hours.
“You can’t. You can’t. It’s impossible to,” he said. “There’s been history of some people that walk in from the camps and some people who drive in and some people that boat in.”
Rogers said there was no continuing police investigation into the matter.
“It’s a tragic accident,” he said.
Matt Hongoltz-Hetling can be reached at mhonghet@vnews.com or 603-727-3211.