Scott Swanson
Several members of the public were honored Tuesday, Aug. 23, by the Sweet Home Fire and Ambulance District for stepping up to perform rescues or help with rescues during the past summer.
New Fire Chief Nick Tyler presented life saving awards to Michael Rowe and, in absentia, to Madison Harris for their role in saving the lives of two young men who nearly drowned in Foster Lake off Gedney Creek Boat Ramp on July 29.
While Harris rescued one of the victims, who had jumped off the pier at the boat ramp to save his friend, Rowe dove multiple times in the 20-foot-deep water to find the first victim, who had disappeared below the surface.
“I heard you had to pull the guy literally off the bottom of the lake, so that was a pretty phenomenal save and it’s something that could have ended in two tragic deaths,” Tyler told Rowe.
The chief noted that Rowe performed CPR on the victim “and was able to get a pulse and care for him until help arrived.”
“Both males, without a doubt would have drowned without intervention,” he said, adding that it was a “unique” situation that placed the two rescuers at the scene.
Rowe’s father’s boat, he said, “wasn’t quite working right” and Rowe returned to the dock.
“By happenstance, the right people were in the right place at the right time, somebody with that skill set,” Tyler said.
Rowe told the board he taught water rescue while in the Marines.
SHFAD Battalion Chief Eli Harris, who is the dive captain for the fire department, said he’s had to “pull up several bodies off the bottom at Foster and Green Peter.
“Not having to do that – you take a lot with you – we appreciate that,” he told Rowe.
Harris, who was a summer intern at Cascade Timber Consulting, has returned to her home in Virginia, so Tyler said he would see that she gets her award.
The chief also honored Kristin Peterson, David Goin, Karen McCurdy, Leon McCurdy and Silvia Kraft of Salem, who were boating on the lake July 15 when they assisted in the rescue of a young girl who was seriously injured when a truck ran off Highway 20 and down an embankment. Kraft was not present, but the other four received certificates of appreciation and department pins.
Tyler said without the help of the boaters, who came to shore to assist medics, “when we talk [about] trauma, the amount of time to take somebody to get to a hospital, the difference between life and death, for her, time was definitely critical.”
“So for us to get that person up to the roadway to do what we had to do, for you guys be willing to give your boat to that operation is pretty amazing.
“We thank you very much for stepping in.”
Harris, who supervised both operations, said the crash scene presented “a unique situation where we had to deal with rope rescue, vehicle extrication or potential vehicle extrication, and the water asset.”
SHFAD didn’t have a boat on the water, he said, and although he expected the Linn County Sheriff’s Office to provide marine support, “miscommunication” resulted and that did not happen.
“My rescue team said, ‘We have to get this kid out now,’ and I didn’t have what we needed,” Harris said, although, he added, he had 15 personnel and a helicopter involved in the rescue.
Medic Christian Whitfield informed Harris that a boat was available, he said.
“You took such a big element, the water rescue, off my plate,” Harris told the four present at the meeting. “Both of those incidents were huge for us. I want to personally thank you.”
In other action at the board’s monthly meeting Aug. 23, Tyler reported that things went “extremely smooth” for the fire department during this year’s Oregon Jamboree July 29-31.
“It was kind of an eerie feeling – you kept waiting for the other foot to drop, it was quiet and quiet and you just kept waiting for the dam to break,” he said. “It was really managed chaos, and I think our guys did great.”
The hot and muggy weather actually “was almost a blessing” as people sought shade and the presence of approximately a dozen Oregon State Police officers on bicycles, augmenting the presence of Sweet Home police, also seemed to help, Tyler said.
“I think it really impacted our call volume to a positive,” he said, adding that having Ridgeway medical clinic personnel on the grounds to address heat issues also helped reduce the call volume.
Deputy Chief Doug Emmert announced to the board that he is officially leaving the district, after working for the district since 1977, because he and his wife Peggy are moving north, nearer their children and other family members.
“I’m just old and it’s probably time,” said Emmert, who retired in 2011 as a full-time SHFAD battalion chief.
Tyler said Emmert’s departure “will leave a big hole to fill” after 40-plus years.
“The community’s going to miss you as well,” he told Emmert. “You and your family not being in the community is going to be very weird.”
Board member Rob Younger asked Emmert to thank his wife for his “40 years of service.”
“You couldn’t have done what you did without her support,” said Younger, a longtime SHFAD volunteer himself. “Peggy is much, much appreciated.”
“She probably will appreciate not telling me to turn my radio down,” Emmert said, to chuckles from those present. “I haven’t spent much time without a radio by my side for a lot of years. She’s been pretty patient about that.”