Gainesville Firefighter Dies on Lake Tugalo Over the Weekend

Flags at the Gainesville fire department are lowed to half-staff today to mourn the loss of a young firefighter/EMT who died on Lake Tugalo on the Georgia side in Rabun County over the weekend.

According to Mark McKinnon with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Chandler Breck Patterson, age 27, of Braselton being pulled on an inner tube by a boater when he fell off.

McKinnon said the boater, identified as 20-year old Kaplan Stacy Mitchell of Clayton, turned around to pick Patterson up and it is believed Patterson was either run over or hit by the boat.

Mitchell was arrested and charged with Homicide by Vessel, Boating Under the Influence Under 21 Years of Age, Towing Skier Without a PFD (personal floatation device), Operating a Vessel with Greater Than 25 hp on Tugalo Lake, Operating a Vessel with insufficient PFD’s, and Operating a Vessel With Expired Registration.

Patterson’s body was found Sunday afternoon by game wardens and was recovered by the Oconee County, SC dive team in about 117 feet of water.

The Georgia DNR Critical Incident Reconstruction Team (CIRT) is investigating the incident.

“Chandler was a super friendly person with an incredible personality! He brought smiles to everyone around him with his laid-back and caring demeanor. He will be missed dearly!” it said on the Gainesville FD Facebook Page.

Lake Tugalo is a 597-acre reservoir lake with 18 miles of shoreline located in northeast Georgia and lies in Rabun and Habersham counties but also lies partially in Oconee County, South Carolina.

Rescue crews from Oconee County aided in the search for Patterson using sonar in a lake that is over 800-ft deep.

Firefighter Chandler Patterson was 27 years old.