ESTHERVILLE – A child’s face was barely kept above water as she was sucked under a logjam in a kayaking incident near Estherville Saturday, and firefighters raced to the scene to prevent a tragic drowning.
The Estherville Fire Department was paged on Saturday for a kayak that had flipped over and a small child was being sucked under a log jam. With pure adrenaline one of the adult females was able to keep ahold of the child and kept her face above the water until firefighters arrived to assist. The child’s lifejacket was tangled in the log jam and was pulling the child under the water. Firefighters along with the adult female were able to cut the lifejacket free.
Firefighters brought six people to safety with the use of our rescue boat. Iowa DNR assisted with their boat. Two individuals were able to self rescue. All individuals were checked out by the Estherville ambulance, with two being transported to Avera.
The Estherville Fire Department was assisted by Emmet County Sheriff’s Officer, Emmet County Dispatcher, Estherville Police Department, Estherville Ambulance Service, Iowa State DNR and Iowa State Patrol
There were three drones on site. One from each of the following agencies, Estherville PD, Emmet County Sheriff’s Office and Iowa State Patrol.
“Without the great partnerships with all agencies involved, this rescue could have turned out very different,” the fire department said later as they sent thanks to helpful agencies who contributed to the outcome.
(TOP PHOTO of the scene from Estherville Fire Dept.)
