Another lake tragedy
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send you a password reset link.
By Jeff Snyder
LENOX, Iowa — Another water tragedy took place in southwest Iowa this past weekend as the Midwest Regional Dive Team was called into action to respond to a report of a fisherman who went into and under the water in Wilson Lake located just south of Lenox, Iowa.
Wilson Lake is a 20-acre municipal lake that features campsites and picnic facilities to area residents.
The latest water emergency took place when a 911 call was placed at approximately 2:54 p.m. on Friday, June 11 indicating that a fisherman, who was apparently fishing from the shoreline, fell from the bank into the water and submerged.
The Lenox Fire Department, along with part of the Midwest Regional Dive team based out of the Mount Ayr Fire Department, the Taylor County Sheriff’s Office and the Taylor County Ambulance were dispatched to respond.
“By the time we arrived the victim, who has yet to be identified, was already extracted from the water,” Mount Ayr Fire Chief and head of Mount Ayr’s portion of the Midwest Dive Team Ed Rotert said.
Life saving efforts were performed on scene but at approximately 3:16 p.m. the crews made the call that the victim was deceased and was transferred to the medical examiners office in Ankeny.
There will be an autopsy of the victim by the ME and results will be released at a later date.
This is the second fatality in as many weeks that has occurred in an area lake. Last week a victim was recovered from Sun Valley Lake in yet another shore line indecent.
No further details were available for either death at this time. The Lenox Fire department teams were the first responders who extracted the victim from the lake.
According to Rotert, local fire departments typically would wait on the dive team to perform the recovery, but in this instance members of the Lenox Fire Department could see the victim on the surface of the lake and went ahead with a rescue attempt.
Wilson Lake, although small, is one of many municipal lake complexes that dot the rural Iowa landscapes. Many were originally conceived as primary water sources for the small towns they are located in. Over the years the lakes took on more of a recreational role while primary water sources are piped in from larger facilities.
