Sunday, April 26, 2015

DEADLY WEEKEND IN ALABAMA: 1 KAYAKER DIED 1 RESCUE WORKER DIED, 3 RESCUE WORKERS INJURED IN SEARCH AT BIG WILLS CREEK IN ALABAMA



APRIL 26, 2015

 Body of missing kayaker recovered in Gadsden


 
A day after he disappeared, the body of a missing Etowah County man was recovered from Big Wills Creek.

Etowah County Coroner Michael Head said Dakota Brett Crandall, 25, was pronounced dead at 11:12 this morning.

Gadsden Assistant Fire Chief Jim Matlock said Crandall's body was found about 300 yards from where he went under Saturday morning while kayaking with relatives.

Crews remained at the creek overnight after rescue efforts yesterday resulted in three injuries and a fatality among members of the Etowah County Rescue Squad.

Matlock said crews walked the creek bank this morning and Crandall's body was spotted about 10:30 a.m. about 25 feet from the bank. It took about 45 minutes to recover the body, as crews with life vests were tied to ropes along the shore and went into the water. The area had a depth of up to 15 feet, he said, but the body was spotted in about five feet of water.

"The water was still pretty unsafe," Matlock said. "It's well above flood stage in some areas."

On Saturday, rescue squad worker Vicky Ryan, 46, died after she and three rescue squad coworkers were injured when two boats capsized during a search on the creek.

Crandall went missing near an old low head dam that was once used to pump water into the Gulf States steel mill nearby.

One of the boats got too close to the dam and was swept over the side. The second boat soon followed and nine Rescue Squad workers were cast into the creek. Members of the Gadsden Fire Department and the Etowah County Sheriff's Office assisted in rescue efforts.


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One man is missing, one rescue worker died and three additional rescue workers were injured this afternoon in Gadsden at Big Wills Creek during a search.

Gadsden Assistant Fire Chief Robert Maltbie said a 25-year-old man was out kayaking with family members about 11:07 a.m. in Big Wills Creek near Brooke Avenue when he was swept into the water. The man went missing near an old low head dam that was once used to pump water into the Gulf States steel mill nearby, he said.

Members of Gadsden Fire and the Etowah County Rescue Squad began a search, and employed two rescue boats.

One of the boats got too close to the dam and was swept over the side. The second boat soon followed and nine Rescue Squad workers were cast into the creek.

Maltbie said one worker was in critical condition at Riverview Regional Medical Center with water-related injuries. 

One other worker was taken to Riverview, and two more to Gadsden Regional Medical Center. One worker was swept up into the current with such force the life jacket was torn off, Maltbie said.

Fire medics have still not located the missing kayaker. Maltbie said workers will maintain a presence in the area overnight and resume searching tomorrow, but will not attempt any more recovery efforts tonight.

Water levels were already high at the creek because of spring rains, which also made the current especially dangerous, Maltbie said.

"It's just been a tragic day," he said.

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RESCUE WORKER DIED IN BIG WILLS CREEK SEARCH WHEN THE BOAT SHE WAS USING TIPPED OVER

APRIL 26, 2015

Rhonda Turner said her last conversation with Vicky Ryan Saturday was typical.

The two had known each other for almost 30 years, meeting as teenagers working at McDonald's. They occasionally styled hair together at Beauty Ovations Hair Salon.

Ryan called Turner, remembering she had a hair appointment scheduled. She asked Turner to cover for her. Ryan was working as a volunteer with the Etowah County Rescue Squad to help find the body of a kayaker feared drowned in the waters of Big Wills Creek.

"She called me right before she got in that boat," Turner said. "She chose not to make money because she wanted to help somebody. She kept talking about the family of the man who was lost."

Not long after that conversation, Ryan died Saturday, when the boat she and several other members of the rescue squad was using for recovery efforts tipped over in the creek, along with another boat. Three other squad members were injured. Ryan's husband is also a member of the squad.

Turner said Ryan was an outgoing, upbeat woman who enjoyed quoting Tyler Perry movies, loved to laugh, and spoke incessantly about her work with the rescue squad.

"She talked about it everyday," Turner said, saying Ryan was selling raffle tickets just a few days ago.

But she stayed busy in other ways, caring for children or giving car rides to complete strangers. She would explain by saying, "The Lord may be looking at me."

"Two weeks ago, she came in joking, saying she was wondering what they were going to do for dinner, because she gave half her grocery money away to this woman she met in the store," Turner said. "The woman didn't have any money for groceries. That's just who Vicky was."

An education fund has been set up for Ryan's 10-year-old son through gofundme.com.