Man rescued from large hole on the dunes.

Man rescued from large hole on the dunes.

By Allison Scarbrough, Editor.

UPDATE: After this story was published, Silver Lake State Park Manager Jody Johnston confirmed that it was not a sink hole, although emergency radio traffic dispatched it as one. 

GOLDEN TOWNSHIP — A 21-year-old Grandville man was rescued after falling into a hole on the Silver Lake Sand Dunes Saturday, June 6, shortly before 5 p.m., according to Oceana County Undersheriff Ryan Schiller.

The incident occurred in the pedestrian area of the Silver Lake State Park. He was enjoying some recreation in the sand dunes by digging holes when “the ground fell out from underneath him,” Schiller said.

The man was not injured, but required emergency assistance to get out. The Department of Natural Resources, the Oceana County Sheriff’s Office, Life EMS and the Hart Area Fire Department responded to the scene. Firefighters used an ice rescue harness to get him out, Schiller said.

The man, who is over 6 feet tall, was buried 3-4 feet beneath the surface, the undersheriff said. “He was up to his armpits.”

He was with a group of people, and one of them called 911 when he fell in.

The rescue took approximately a half hour to 45 minutes.

Schiller said it was a very unusual rescue. “It was a new one for all of us.”

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