December 27, 2007

Winter water rescue nets stranded Spokane hunter, ducks and geese

Two units of the Adams County Fire Protection District No. 1, three Adams County Sheriff’s Office units and an ambulance crew responded to Finnel Lake at 1:58 p.m. last Saturday for a citizen assist.

Five firefighters on a brush truck and rescue rig were joined by Undersheriff John Hunt, Sergeant Troy Mock and Deputy Jeff Lane and caravanned through the pasture about a mile from the bridge on Hills Road in search of an out-of-town male needing assistance on the lake.

When the units arrived at the bridge, they found a padlock on the gate that opened into the pasture on the west side of the road. The lock was cut with bolt cutters, allowing access for the truck, rescue unit and two sheriff’s office rigs.

“We get out there, and we don’t know where he is on Finnel Lake,” said ACFPD No. 1 chief Scott Kembel. “We take off behind John. Troy is behind us with the other truck.”

One mile in, Hunt spots the male on the other side of the lake. Kembel advised the rigs behind him to backtrack and go to the other side.

Once the units arrived, Mock used a rope to assist the man out of the water. At the same time, the man was bucketing water out of the boat, which had a leak.

“Ice was blocking him from getting to shore,” Kembel said. Apparently, the man found a boat near the lake. He got out of the water at 2:40 p.m.

The Spokane resident was transported from the lake in Mock’s pickup to the ambulance waiting on Hills Road. According to Kembel, he was a little hypothermic. ACFPD No. 1 crews returned to the station around 3:30 p.m.

In addition to the male, crews ‘rescued’ the ducks and geese and transported the waterfowl to the male’s pickup, which was parked off of Hills Road.