News

Minn. County Rescue Squad Wins Award for Saves at Boundary Waters

John Myers

05/04/2016

May 03--When a Rochester, Minn. youth was pinned between a crumpled canoe and a rock by the fast-moving waters of Basswood Falls in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness last summer, who you gonna call?

The St. Louis County Rescue Squad, that's who.

Even though that rescue was technically in Lake County, the all-volunteer members of the North unit of the St. Louis County Rescue Squad are the go-to crew for rescues across much of the 1.9 million acre federal wilderness, including hard-to-get-to places like Basswood Falls, nearly 30 miles from civilization.

On Tuesday, the St. Louis County Rescue Squad received a national award from the U.S. Forest Service. The "Enduring Service Award" was the only one presented this year in the Forest Service's 20-state Northeast Region, said Gus Smith, the Ely-based Kawishiwi District Ranger for the Superior National Forest that includes the BWCAW.

While the Forest Service has float planes highly capable of searching for victims, the feds rely on the local rescue squad to do much of the actual rescue part on the ground or on the water.

"The dedication and professionalism that this rescue squad has is unmatched anywhere," said Smith, who came to the Ely job from Yosemite National Park in California. "I thought I knew a lot about wilderness rescue. But these guys (in Ely) are the real professionals. They deserve this award."

The BWCAW sees some 250,000 visitors annually -- it's the most visited wilderness in the U.S. -- and more than a few of them run into trouble.

"We probably average six to 12 rescues into the wilderness each year," said Kurt Erickson of Ely, the north team's lieutenant. "It's everything from axe injuries to lost campers to trees down on tents because of storms. ... everything that happens in town and then some, and it's usually in a place that's hard to get to."

Rescuing them requires the teamwork of the Forest Service, the St. Louis County Sheriff's Office, the 12-member north team of the rescue squad, the Morse-Fall Lake Volunteer Fire Department and its paramedics, the Ely Ambulance, Minnesota DNR conservation officers, the Minnesota State Patrol, Lake County Sheriff's Office and more.

All of those agencies were involved in the July 7 rescue last year.

"It's always a team effort. And we have a fantastic group of volunteers," Erickson said after receiving the award at Tuesday's county board meeting.

The force of the water above the falls trapped the bent canoe against the 15-year-old boy who was nearly unconscious from hypothermia by the time rescuers freed him from the river. The incident occurred where the Basswood River flows out of Basswood Lake and into Crooked Lake, along the Minnesota-Ontario border about 30 miles northeast of Ely. Efforts by other canoeists to free him only managed to sink the canoe deeper, and drag the boy further into the water. But one Scout group had a cellphone capable of calling 911.

It took six hours from the initial accident until Erickson's team arrived at the scene by motorboat. It took them only 20 minutes using ropes and pulleys to free the youth from the canoe that had crushed his leg.

The victim was airlifted from the scene by a Minnesota State Patrol helicopter then transferred to a Forest Service floatplane, and then to an ambulance to be taken to the Ely hospital.

The boy, part of a church youth group on a canoe trip, was hospitalized for several days but did not lose his leg, Erickson noted.

Last year's heroics was only one example of the rescue squad's efforts. On July 22, 2014, three sets of campers on different lakes in the BWCAW required emergency rescues after a line of thunderstorms swept through the area downing trees onto campsites, including five people in one group on Loon lake. Once again, it was the St. Louis County Rescue Squad that lead the effort.

Erickson, who has been on the north team since 2007, made a plea for more people to get involved in the Rescue Squad which is both shrinking in number and aging rapidly. A retired Twin Cities cop, Erickson said he enjoys giving back to his community -- that his volunteer service gives him something he missed since retiring -- but said more people need to step-up.

"Some of our rescues go on for 24, 48 even 72 hours., We helped Lake County with one that went on for eight days," he said. "But they found the guy alive. And that makes it worthwhile."