Carver firefighters rescue worker stuck in cranberry bog

Carver firefighters rescued a cranberry bog worker Tuesday afternoon after he got stuck in the mud, according to a town fire official.

Just before 2 p.m., a 911 caller reported that a man who was working a cranberry harvest was up to his neck in the mud in a bog, Deputy Fire Chief Eric Germaine said. 

“The 911 call was a bit more dramatic than the actual rescue,” he said. 

Firefighters responded to 129 Center St., Germaine said. When they got there, they found that the worker was about chest deep in the water, and that his feet and legs were stuck in the mud. 

In Carver, Germaine said, cranberries are harvested through “wet picking,” which requires workers to get into the water. Somehow, he said, the shoreline of the bog had collapsed onto the worker.

Firefighters put a rope around the man to make sure they didn’t lose him in the bog, and then five of them worked to dig him out. After about 10 minutes, they were able to pull him out, Germaine said. 

“He was unharmed. He was checked by Carver EMS, and I believe the gentleman went right back to work,” the deputy fire chief said. 

Carver has been a cranberry growing hub for over 100 years, but Germaine said he’s never seen a worker get stuck like this. 

“I’ve been here for 33 years doing this,” he said. “First time I’ve ever seen someone get stuck in a cranberry bog harvest in that nature.”