Rock Rapids, Iowa — “It could have ended a lot worse.” That from Rock Rapids Fire Chief Ed Reck about a rescue operation on Wednesday morning when someone fell into the Rock River at Rock Rapids.
The situation started just before noon when someone on a small watercraft fell off of the craft, into the fast-moving floodwaters of the Rock River in Island Park. Reck says he heard that they had put the craft in the water on Moon Creek, and it went over the big low-head dam in the park. Reck says the reporting party could no longer see the victim and they were concerned that he could be floating downriver. He says they sent firefighters to the Highway 9 bridge and the old county shop by the fairgrounds (2-3 blocks and 7-8 blocks downstream) to watch for anyone coming down in the current.
Reck says that one of the firefighters volunteered the use of his boat, as the fire department does not have a rescue boat. But Reck says they didn’t end up needing it because someone on shore spotted the victim and yelled to the firefighters. Reck says the victim was on the east side of the river, just north of the small dam, and it wasn’t easy to get to him. According to Reck, they used a UTV and took it on the bike trail trestle over the river, and then transported the victim back over the trestle to the Depot Museum area, where a waiting Lyon County Ambulance took him to Merrill Pioneer Hospital Avera in Rock Rapids.
Reck tells us he’s not sure how long the victim was in the water, but it was at least 15 minutes from when they got the call to when they got him out. He says it was a good thing he had a life jacket on — and that may have saved his life.
Reck says he doesn’t know the identity of the victim, but he says he was told they are local people.
All told, about 20 firefighters responded and were out for about 45 minutes.
Lyon County Sheriff Stewart Vander Stoep told us that the way it started, he thought they were going to have a recovery mission instead of a rescue mission. Reck says, “Stay out of the river right now. It’s just not worth it.”
