The ID Tag still attached after three years
Photos courtesy of Talbot Wothe
The Ohio River flows through and borders six states from Kentucky to Pennsylvania and many objects are tossed or lost in it every day, many of those never to be seen again.
On May 21, local resident Daniel Hughes found one of these objects, a firefighter’s helmet that was lost in Pennsylvania.
Hughes said the bright yellow helmet caught his eye as it was tangled in some debris on the bank of the river in Maysville.
“I was kayaking up near Cabin Creek, I wasn’t even going to go as far as I did but I ended up by the (Maysville) River Park boat docks when I saw it,” said Hughes.
Hughes said he was kayaking alone that morning and saw the bright yellow of the helmet and at first didn’t know what it was.
“I thought at the time that maybe it was a hard hat or a ball, something like that, but I got it into the boat and it was a firefighter’s helmet with the owner’s ID still attached to it,” he said.
According to Hughes, he took the helmet home to his wife, Katie Hughes, and together they started searching for the owner of the helmet with the information available on the helmet and ID card.
Franklin Park Fire Department Chief Bill Chicots, said that Hughes found the fire department’s Facebook page and posted a picture of the helmet saying it had been found in Maysville, Kentucky.
“The helmet belonged to Dave Vodarick, he’s been a member of our fire department since 1974; he lost the helmet during a water rescue in October 2019,” said Chicots.
According to Chicots, there had been sudden and heavy rain that produced three inches of water and caused part a road to flood and a school bus was caught in the deeper-than-expected and rapidly moving water.
“The water was moving so fast that it almost swept Dave away; that’s how he lost the helmet,” said Chicots.
A firefighter’s helmet is very important because it protects their heads from many elements besides fire; because of this they looked for the helmet for a few days, said Chicots.
“The chief said they went back and looked for the helmet but never found it, it took three years for it to end up here in Maysville” said Hughes.
According to Hughes, he will be mailing the helmet back to the Franklin County Fire Department this week.
“The chief told me they are actually going to put the helmet in their trophy case; they never expected to see it again,” said Hughes.
The helmet traveled 422 miles, through three states in three years and is now being returned and given a place of honor.
