Beaver Dam firefighters hurt during ice rescue training; 1 seriously
BEAVER DAM, Wis. - Three firefighters were hurt in Beaver Dam on Monday evening, Feb. 12 – one of them seriously – during an ice rescue training exercise.
The Dodge County Sheriff’s Office said the Beaver Dam Fire Department was conducting ice rescue training operations on Beaver Dam Lake around 7:40 p.m.
"We heard the boats, the airboats could here them out training," said Randall Wallintin, neighbor.
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Three firefighters were operating on the fire department air boat in the area of Grape Island – and crashed.
"We’re still putting all the pieces together and that is something we want to get at. Why did this happen and how do we kind of prevent it from happening in the future," said John Sinclair with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR). "They’re somewhat uncommon types of vessels, but we certainly see some public safety agencies that use them."
Beaver Dam training exercise crash (Credit: George Davis)
All three firefighters were injured in the crash, with one seriously injured. The seriously injured firefighter was flown by Flight For Life to Aurora Summit Hospital in Oconomowoc. He returned home on Wednesday, Feb. 14. The other two firefighters were treated and released early Tuesday.
The Wisconsin DNR is leading the investigation and will provide additional information on the crash after they conduct their investigation.
"That is something we want to get at. Why did this happen and how do we kind of prevent it from happening in the future," Sinclair said.
"I just pray for the guys," Wallintin said.
The Dodge County Sheriff’s Office and Beaver Dam Police Department are assisting the DNR in the investigation.
Officials are not releasing specifics on the injuries or the names of the injured firefighters at this time.