By Jason Stuart
Ranger-Review Staff Writer
With school out, spring in full swing and summer just around the corner, more and more people are headed out into the local hills and badlands for recreation, but three incidents this week illustrate how critical it is that residents maintain a healthy fear and respect of that rugged terrain and remain cautious and alert while scrambling up and down the coulees and gumbo knobs.
Three different people had to be rescued this past week after being caught in dangerous situations in the badlands in and around Makoshika State Park. (As the Glendive Ambulance Service was the first responder on all three calls, information on the rescues is limited as ambulance records are protected by federal privacy laws.)
The first incident occurred Monday night, when the Glendive Ambulance Service was paged out to a report of a “distressed hiker” in Makoshika. The ambulance crew also paged in the West Glendive Fire Department for mutual aid, which dispatched seven firefighters to aid EMTs with the rescue effort. WGFD Chief Richie Crisafulli said EMTs and his crew were able to successfully locate and tend to the hiker, but could offer no other details (again, due to privacy laws).
On Wednesday night, two minors found themselves in two different very sticky situations in the badlands.
The first incident occurred in the hills behind Rosser Street in Glendive’s Southside neighborhood, according to Crisafulli.
“A minor had fallen into a hole, quite a deep hole,” he said.
Once again, the ambulance service was the first responder, and EMTs again called in the WGFD for mutual aid. As luck would have it, WGFD firefighters were already nearby, engaged in a joint training exercise with the Glendive Fire Department at the closed Makoshika Estates facility. Crisafulli said he pulled four of his firefighters from the training and rushed over to aid in the rescue.
The rescue took some effort, but Crisafulli said they were able to get the child out of the hole safe and sound and with no major injuries.
“We used ropes and assisted this young person out of the hole,” he said.
Though the girl did not suffer any major injuries, Crisafulli noted that her situation could have been much more precarious had she been alone at the time she fell in the hole.
“If she wouldn’t have had friends to get help way up there where she was at ... it could have been scary for her,” he said.
After helping EMTs pull the girl out, Crisafulli and his firefighters returned to their training exercise, but only briefly. About an hour later, the ambulance service called again asking for help with yet another stranded child. Crisafulli collected five of his firefighters and set back off into the hills again.
This time, the child was stranded in the rugged hills behind the city landfill. The child had suffered an injury, so firefighters helped EMTs carry them out of the badlands and back down to safety.
Glendive Ambulance Service co-director Mary Jo Gehnert said that all the rescues this week were very successful and she thanked the WGFD for their assistance with each incident.
“To my knowledge there were no serious injuries and the rescues were very successful and we applaud West Glendive for being there to help us,” Gehnert said.
Though the three rescues this week worked out fine, Gehnert noted that they should serve as a reminder to locals to be prepared before heading out to recreate in the badlands and to maintain caution while doing so.
“We’re seeing a lot of people recreating in the park and in the badlands, and we encourage that, that’s great, but I’d also encourage caution,” she said.
Reach Jason Stuart at rrreporter@rangerreview.com.