January, 2007
1/6/07, 2123 hours. Paged to report of a vehicle through the ice on Island Lake. Rescue Squad requested mutual aid from Gnesen to assist with first response tasks. Investigation revealed two subjects self-rescued and were okay. Truck on the bottom in approximately 20 feet of water. Civilian ATV engaged in rescue attempt also broke through prior to our arrival; rider in waist-deep water; rider rescued and machine recovered by civilians prior to our arrival.
1/19/07, 0500 hours. Called for mutual-aid to Lake Tetonka in LeSueur County, Minnesota, for ROV mission to search for missing snowmobiler, believed through the ice, last seen January 14. Victim located and recovered by scuba divers from Marathon County, Wisconsin.
2006 Summary
The Rescue Squad ran 57 water operations in 2006, including a record 20 water fatalities. The old record was 17 water fatalities in 1973. Eleven fatalities occurred in "home" waters, with 9 mutual-aid calls to places as far away as Colorado, California, and Jamaica. Two finds/recoveries were made using our Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) and sidescan sonar. We saw our first triple-drowning in 39 years (to the DAY!), the April tragedy on Fish Lake involving three teenagers. Included in the operational total are 11 boat collisions and capsizings, as well as three thin-ice rescues for dogs!