A New York City fire department EMS lieutenant from Staten Island has died in a hiking accident Upstate.
Essex County Coroner Francis Whitelaw released at statement saying it happened Saturday afternoon at Roaring Brook Falls in the town of Keene.
Whitelaw says 37-year-old Joann Restko was with a friend when she went to a ledge towards the top of the falls to take a photograph and disappeared. Her friend was unable to locate her and called rangers from the Department of Environmental Conservation.
Restko's body was found at the base of the falls about 80 to 100 feet below the ledge. The falls is among the tallest in Adirondack Park, with a total height of around 300 feet.
On Sunday, the FDNY Women's Benevolent Association posted photos on Facebook of her uniform hanging above her picture with flowers and a candle below it.
Outside Restko's firehouse, Fire Commissioner Dan Nigro called her death a terrible tragedy and said the department's thoughts and prayers were with her family.
