Rescues - James Bond style

Park Board approval will seal hovercraft deal for Whitefish Lake

A hovercraft - the sleek, speedy watercraft glamorized in James Bond movies - is on its way to becoming a rescue tool on Whitefish Lake.

Longtime Whitefish Lake residents Jim and Lisa Stack, and Mike and Marie Shaw have offered to donate a $33,000 Neoteric Rescue Hovercraft to the Whitefish Fire Department if the watercraft can be stationed permanently at the lake.

The versatility and maneuverability of the hovercraft are its biggest selling points, especially for rescues from October through April. Downwardly directed fans create a cushion of air that supports and propels the vehicle.

With full reverse thrust capabilities, it can hover in location and rotate 360 degrees.

By storing the hovercraft at City Beach, it could be accessed quickly and taken across the sandy beach, into the water and across ice with speeds of up to 60 miles per hour. The average speed is 35 mph.

"Our goal is to reduce the response time from a 911 call to an on-the-water rescue launch to under six minutes," Jim Stack said.

The Whitefish City Council on Monday agreed to donate $4,000 toward construction of a storage building for the hovercraft and approved a site that currently accommodates an old pumphouse near the boat launch at City Beach. Approval from the Park Board on May 9 is the final hurdle for the project.

The Stacks said they've noticed an increase in activity on Whitefish Lake during the winter and early spring, times when the water temperature is barely above freezing.

The hovercraft also could be used on Whitefish River and in flooded areas.

"The problem with cold-water rescue is that most aren't successful," Jim Stack said.

He told the council he held his hand under the lake water for just 60 seconds and was unable to move his fingers. Rescuers generally have a 10- to 15-minute window of opportunity to save a victim, because within minutes, severe pain clouds rational thought. At 10 minutes, victims lose circulation in their extremities; in 15 to 20 minutes, victims lose consciousness, he said, citing statistics from the U.S. Search and Rescue Task Force.

The April 7 drowning death of a 26-year-old Canadian man whose canoe capsized in Whitefish Lake during a bachelor party is the most recent reminder of the slim odds of surviving the icy water this time of year.

Rescue hovercraft have become a vital part of fire and rescue departments in a number of cities, from Anchorage, Alaska, to Terre Haute, Ind. North Muskegon, Mich., located on a peninsula between three lakes in an area with brutal winters, has five hovercraft and rescues about 230 people a year, Stack pointed out.

The Stacks called more than a dozen references and were told that the training to operate a hovercraft is minimal and that the vehicle is "so stable you couldn't turn it over if you tried."

"In effect, this would be like having an ALERT helicopter service on Whitefish Lake," he said.

Currently, the Fire Department uses a motorized rubber raft for cold-water rescues, which involves hauling it to City Beach and then launching it if snow and ice conditions permit.

"Launching a rubber raft that has been stored in a 70-degree garage into sub-40-degree water is problematic in itself," Stack said. "With deflated tubes, speed can be reduced to 10 or 15 miles per hour."

STACK, WHO lives on the east lakeshore near Birch Glen, was involved with a rescue on Whitefish Lake seven years ago, when 22-year-old Julia Cassidy of England drowned in an early April boat mishap. He heard the cries of Cassidy and her companion, Randall Bruckner, and attempted a rescue using a whitewater kayak. It was about midnight when he paddled out, towing a second kayak while his wife called 911.

Stack was able to save Bruckner but not Cassidy. He recently contacted Cassidy's family and they've offered to donate the $11,000 balance needed for the storage building.

Fire Chief Dave Sipe, remembering the harrowing details of that rescue, told the council a hovercraft could have made the difference.

"There's a good chance we could have saved Julia" if rescuers had access to a hovercraft, Sipe said.

The hovercraft project has quickly garnered public support, and the council's approval drew applause. Western Building Center has promised to donate building materials at cost for the storage building, Kevin Treece Design is providing a free set of construction plans, Curt Comstock of Whitefish Buildings has volunteered his services as general contractor and several subcontractors also have offered to help.

"The public support is just overwhelming," Stack said. "And we firmly believe that it will save lives."

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.