BROWNFIELD – A teenager was saved from drowning Wednesday afternoon by a group of friends who performed life-saving techniques and then carried the 16-year-old to a nearby camp.

An official from the Maine Warden Service said Kevin Robblee of Fryeburg was swimming with friends in Burnt Meadow Pond at about 2:30 p.m. when he tired and went under.

“He was swimming in his jeans,” Warden Neal Wykes said. “He started getting tired, and the pants were pulling him down. He started floundering, and he was hollering to his friends.”

Another teen who had been swimming with Robblee saw his friend go under, Wykes said. That teen dove beneath the water and found Robblee on the bottom of the pond. The teen lifted him up to the surface and began hauling him toward shore.

“One of the other kids on shore administered CPR and got him somewhat breathing again,” Wykes said.

The teens were in a remote section of Burnt Meadow Pond when Robblee went under, Wykes said. To get help, they had to carry him along the edge of the water until they came upon a nearby camp, whose owner helped them phone for help. Fryeburg rescue crews arrived a short time later and administered oxygen to the boy.

“They got him breathing on his own again,” Wykes said.

Robblee was taken first to Bridgton Hospital. He was later transferred to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston, where a nursing supervisor said she could not release information about his condition Wednesday night.

Wykes, who was called to investigate the swimming incident, credited Robblee’s friends with saving his life.

“It was a good, combined action,” he said. “It could have easily gone the other way, without a doubt. This was a good ending.”