Dog remained atop vessel during incident Sunday, Aug. 11
FOR THE TOMAHAWK LEADER
TOWN OF KING – A Tomahawk man, 34, was rescued by emergency personnel after being trapped under his capsized canoe Sunday, Aug. 11.
According to the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department, the man called 911 at about 8:25 a.m. and reported he was pinned in his canoe north of Menard Island on a stretch of the Wisconsin River north of County Road A in the Town of King, east of Tomahawk.
Dispatchers were able to immediately pinpoint the man’s location using GPS technology, but due to very shallow water conditions, it took “some time” to reach him, the release states. The low water levels in some areas forced firefighters to abandon their boats and walk to the man’s location, over file miles upstream from the nearest landing point. A dispatcher kept the man online for over an hour until responders were able to reach him.
After reaching the man’s location, it took responders about 20 minutes to free him. Firefighters then used a life jacket to float the man down the river to deeper water, where fire and civilian volunteers, along with boats from the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department, were waiting. He was brought south to County Road A, where he was removed from the water to a waiting ambulance, two hours after the incident began.
The man was brought to Ascension Sacred Heart Hospital in Tomahawk, where he was treated for non-life threatening injuries. Deputies also rescued the man’s dog, which remained on top of the canoe during the incident.
Responding agencies included the Tomahawk Fire Department, Tomahawk EMS, Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department, Wisconsin DNR and Spirit Medical Transport. An airboat was requested from the Newbold Fire Department in Oneida County, but was canceled after the man was freed.