Yeah, I know it helps if you attach the article. So here it is.
Fisherman loses his truck in West Milford reservoir
Thursday September 13, 2012, 9:13 PM
BY JEFF GREEN
STAFF WRITER
The Record
Pages: 1 2 > display on one page | Print | E-mail WEST MILFORD — A fisherman wound up having his pickup truck fished out of the Oak Ridge Reservoir on Thursday afternoon after losing control of the vehicle while hooking up his boat to a trailer.
Harry Bardroff, 57, of Lyndhurst, and a friend were wrapping up a morning on the water near Reservoir Road and Route 23. Bardroff said while checking the truck’s trailer from the driver’s seat, he fell out of the vehicle. His 1999 Dodge Ram, still in reverse, backed into the reservoir, rolling over Bardroff’s leg in the process.
“The truck was in reverse and it kept going backwards,” Bardroff said.
“I’m OK,” he said, marveling that he escaped with only minor injuries. “The way I fell out, I can’t understand it.”
Jason Roth, owner of J&J Towing in West Milford, and others spent three hours removing the fully submerged truck from the water. It took so long because Roth, in his underwear, had to dive underwater to find the right place on the Dodge to hook up with his tow truck.
“In 18 years, I can pretty much do everything. This is the first one I had to go swimming for,” said Roth, 41. “It’s the craziest one without a doubt.”
Once the truck was attached, it had to be flipped upside down to remove it from a ravine in which it was wedged. After dragging the truck out, it was put right side up and placed on a flat bed. The truck’s hood was caved in and windshield entirely cracked.
Roth said since the vehicle was running when it went in, water was sucked into the air cleaner and instantly ruined its parts.
“The motor, the transmission, everything is shot at that point,” he said. “If it wasn’t running, he would have had a chance.”
Multiple government agencies responded, including local police, the state departments of health and environmental protection and the Passaic County Sheriff’s Department hazardous materials team. Officials “confined and contained” a section of the reservoir where transmission fluid and other liquids could have leaked out of the truck, West Milford Fire Marshal Ron Svrchek said.