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218-730-4400 •www.duluthmn.gov
Public Information Officer at 218-730-5309
SUBJECT: Water Emergency
BY: Assistant Fire Chief Erik Simonson
NATURE OF INCIDENT: Water Emergency
CASE NO.: 10-0001745
INCIDENT DATE: 3/17/2010
INCIDENT TIME: 1358
INCIDENT LOCATION: Lester River
At approximately 2:00 this afternoon, the Duluth Fire Department responded to report of a fisherman struggling in Lake Superior at the mouth of the Lester River. Number 6 Engine, stationed just 10 blocks away was first to arrive.
A passerby had deployed a small boat toward the struggling fisherman, and used the boat to tow the man towards shore where firefighters removed him from the cold water.
The man had waders on, but no life jacket. He apparently lost his footing and was swept away in the fast moving water. The water is still cold enough where hypothermia can rapidly set in, rendering a persons muscles and judgement essentially useless.
The Duluth Fire Department credits the quick action of passerby's with the boat. Without their intervention, the end result could have been tragic.
The man was transported to a Duluth hospital.
People in or around water are reminded to always wear a life jacket, and in the event you are swept into the current you should quickly swim parallel to the shore to get out of the fast moving water.