CAMDEN — Camden firefighters and police responded to an appeal for help from the harbor around 1 this morning, Friday, when a man aboard a moored boat there apparently fell into the water.

The 50-year-old man, aboard the Fire Bird, was in the water long enough to be treated for hypothermia. The air temperature in the middle of the night was in the mid-60s F. The water temperature was approximately the same, about 60 F.

Dr. John Karod, who was asleep aboard his own sailboat, and which was moored nearby, heard the swimmer’s cries for help. Karod climbed into his dinghy and hauled the swimmer aboard the smaller boat, wrapping him in a blanket. Meanwhile, a call had been made to Knox County Regional Communications Center, which dispatched local police, who called for assistance from Camden Fire Department.

According to Fire Chief Chris Farley, firefighters Scott Entwistle, Todd Anderson and Bob French Jr. launched the town’s public safety boat, which is kept at the fire station just up the hill from the harbor. From Steamboat Landing, they headed toward Curtis Island, along with Camden Police Officer Wes Butler, and met the two men.

Firefighters helped transfer the swimmer aboard the public safety boat, whereupon he immediately dispelled the contents of his stomach into the cockpit.

He relayed to firefighters that he had imbibed a lot of beer, and that he did not know how he came to be in the water, according to Farley.

Camden firefighters transported the man back to Steamboat Landing, where an ambulance from North East Mobile Health was waiting to transfer him to Pen Bay Medical Center.

Firefighters then moved the public safety boat around the corner to Wayfarer Marine and used that marina’s hose to clean out the boat. They packed up and went back home by 2 a.m.

Editorial Director Lynda Clancy can be reached at lyndaclancy@penbaypilot.com; 706-6657.