Mounties stage three rescues in three hours near Brooks

After rescuing three stranded boaters on Lake Newell near Brooks on Sunday afternoon, the local RCMP and fire department are advising people to be better prepared when they head to the lake.

The first call came in around 4 p.m., when waves grew on the lake because of 80 km/h gusts of wind making for extremely dangerous boating conditions, according to a news release on Monday. Due to the extreme conditions, a kayaker had washed ashore on the southern side of Lake Newell.

Shortly after the call, the Brooks Fire Department located the kayaker, who was transported to safety.

A second rescue was called for at 5:30 p.m. when a family of five on a large pontoon boat couldn’t return to Kinbrook Island Provincial Park because of the serious weather and water conditions.

The family ended up stranded on an island, without shelter against the wind and bad weather.

Due to the one- to oneand-a-half-metre waves at the time, the family reported themselves stranded. But because of the conditions the fire department and RCMP were unable to send out a rescue boat from the main boat launch. A local resident helped emergency crews launch a medium-sized Zodiac rescue boat in Jackfish Bay, which had some shelter from the elements.

After two trips to the island to move the family to safety, it had been nearly seven hours since they called for help. They had spent that time with limited supplies or clothing to keep warm, according to the news release.

At 6:35 p.m. another call for help came in for Brooks RCMP and Alberta Conservation authorities. This one was a request to rescue a boater in a small aluminum fishing vessel who was caught on the water because of the extreme wind and waves.

Authorities transported the man to safety shortly after they received the call.

All the boaters who needed to be rescued had cellphones, which allowed them to call for help quickly and they could send their GPS location to the rescue crews.

After receiving three rescue calls in a single afternoon, Brooks RCMP and the fire department said they are asking people to check the weather forecasts before heading out on a boat.

“When on the water, boaters should be continuously monitoring the weather as lake conditions can turn quickly on Lake Newell due to its size, location and lack of cover from landscape,” said the release.

RCMP encourage boaters to carry all mandatory boat safety equipment, including life-jackets, signalling devices, bailing containers and extra supplies such as food, water and clothing.