By Megan Matteucci

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Firefighters pulled a stranded fisherman to safety Monday after he ignored warning alarms in the Buford Dam and became stranded.

Fisherman Konstantine Feder was treated at the scene for mild hypothermia and released, authorities said.

“It would have been not too much longer before he started to lose muscular control and all swimming ability,” said Derrick James, a swift water rescue technician with Gwinnett Fire.

Feder was standing on a rock fishing in the Chattahoochee River near the lake at Buford Dam.

Around 4 p.m., the alarms sounded, indicating the dam was about to release water and everyone should evacuate the area, James said.

Feder didn’t know what the alarm meant and decided to keep fishing, said E. Patrick Robbins, spokesman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which controls the dam.

The cold water rushed out, covering above the rock and knocking Feder into water. The water quickly rose above the fisherman’s waist, making it impossible for him to keep his footing, James said.

Feder kicked off his waders and started to swim.

“His legs got so cold and weak that he couldn’t stay there any more and decided to make a dash for it,” James said.

A witness saw the stranded fisherman and called for help.

Gwinnett County Fire and Emergency Services’ rescue team arrived within 19 minutes. James said he saw the fisherman’s condition and knew the rescue team didn’t have time to launch their boat.

James convinced the fisherman to swim a little closer to the shore and then tossed him a rope. Rescuers pulled the man about 75 feet to the shore and paramedics began treatment, James said.

The fisherman told rescuers it was his first time fishing near the dam. He was not wearing a life vest nor wet suit, Gwinnett Fire spokesman Capt. Tommy Rutledge said.

Firefighters say if Feder kept the waders on, he likely would have drowned.

Rescuers believe Feder was in the 50-degree water for about 30 minutes. “Any longer and there could have been serious problems,” James said.