North Dakota Fishermen Rescue Firefighters; Fireboat Gets Stranded In Dam
Grand Forks fire/rescue training officers Dave Manthei, (right) leans over to attach a rope to a rivercraft that is stuck on rocks.
Photo credit: Jackie Lorentz - Grand Folks Herald
Two fishermen helped rescue a rescue boat Wednesday after a Grand Forks Fire Department craft was hung up on a dam near Riverside Park.
Dave Manthei, fire department training officer, and senior firefighter Bruce Weymier were in a training session when the boat hit a rock, Manthei said. They were attempting to navigate upstream through the dam when the boat was pinned by rushing water.
"The boat is made to go up in those waters," Manthei said. "It just happened when we went up there, we got stuck on a rock. It's just like a snowbank."
Fishing nearby were Ryan Timmer and Rusty Miller. Because Miller's jet boat has no external moving engine parts, it is able to navigate the rocky dam, Manthei said. The two volunteered to tow the fire department boat to safety. The retrieval was delayed when Miller's jet boat sucked in the tow rope. But the craft finally was pulled from the rocks after about 1
