Water Rescue on Rivers Lake
September 3, 2018
At around 5:50 Sunday evening, Rivers/Daly Fire Department was dispatched to a water rescue in the north-east corner of Lake Whatopanah, also known as Rivers Lake.
Upon arrival, it was determined that a fishing boat had gotten hung up on rocks in the north-east corner of the lake, and the occupants were unable to free themselves from the rocks. 2 rescue boats, one from Rivers/Daly Fire Department and the other from Whitehead Fire Department, were deployed from Abe Wiebe Boat Launch and started rescue efforts.
4 occupants were found in the boat, and were transported in the 2 boats back to shore, where they were assessed by EMS.
According to Rivers/Daly Fire Chief Richard Brown, “We got the call at around 5:50 Sunday night, and we had our water rescue team in the water by 6:05. The patients were located at about 6:15, and we had everybody off the water by 7:15. It was a successful rescue, with a nice outcome. I’m very proud of our team, along with all of the other resources who responded to aid us.”
Multiple agencies responded and converged on the area to help with rescue efforts. Rivers/Daly Fire Department, Whitehead Fire Water Rescue Team, Minnedosa Fire Water Rescue Team, Rapid City Fire Department Medical First Responder, along with RCMP, Rivers Police Service and Rivers EMS responded to the call. Photos by: Liam Pattison Photography