Kansas River water rescue brings back memories for area crews
Rescue teams say experiences help them better prepare for next time
6:58 p.m. Thursday, July 10, 2008
The Kansas River near the Maple Hill bridge is quiet now, but more than 24 hours ago, there was a swift response by multiple rescue teams to search the waters for three missing children.
It’s a scene all too familiar for Rossville Fire Chief Alan McKenzie.
“You're always thinking in the back of your mind this could be another situation like that,” he said.
McKenzie was one of many people searching the banks of the Kansas River Wednesday night.
Unfortunately, he's been here before.
Nearly a year ago, he was helping with search efforts for 9-year-old Michael Zapletal.
He says some of the problems from that search helped his crew get on the water faster this time.
“Just by having the experience from last year, we knew better access points and ways to get boats on the water,” he said.
Wamego police and fire say with the fast response from area rescue teams and the community, boats were on the water within 15 to 20 minutes of the emergency call.
But efforts didn't stop there.
Officials used the city's emergency broadcast system.
“The response from that was good and from that, we were able to start to piece together that we had the right children and the right time,” said Phil Stultz, Wamego Fire Chief.
The search stopped soon after that when police found out the teens were safe at home.
Wamego Police Chief Michael Baker says the operation ran smoothly, but says one part of it needs to be improved.
“Getting the command post up faster so we can get more information out to proper people that need to be getting that information,” said Michael Baker, Wamego Police Chief.
Because the kids who were swimming in the river are juveniles, their names are not being released.
Police did warn the kids that swimming on the Kansas River is dangerous and they shouldn't do it.
Crews we talked to say they train for swift water rescues every year.
Read about the false alarm from Wednesday here.
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