The Alpine Fire District rescued a man whose side-by-side — and prosthetic leg — were trapped in the thick mud of Palisades Reservoir on Monday.
Alpine Fire Chief Mike Vogt said they received a direct call from a Utah man who had been camping in the area and got stuck while riding his side-by-side.
“At first, we thought we should call a tow company, because we don’t want to take business away from them,” Vogt told Cowboy State Daily. “But then he said he was stranded with just one leg.”
The man’s prosthetic leg got stuck when he exited the side-by-side. He had no way of getting himself to safety without getting hopelessly stuck.
“That’s why Alpine Fire was needed,” Vogt said. “He was beached on top of his side-by-side with one leg.”
Lost And Found
The stranded man sent his coordinates to Vogt and his team, but getting to him wasn’t easy.
“We had trouble locating him, and we were looking for him,” Vogt said. “His coordinates led us to the McCoy Campground, so we went there, but we shouldn’t have been there.
Vogt called the man again, and he guided them to his location. They had to cross the Snake River and find a suitable staging area for a rescue.
When they located the man, Alpine Fire volunteers tried to walk out to him. It was quickly apparent how he’d gotten stuck.
“We couldn't even walk in that mud,” he said. “We were getting stuck, too. It was past our calves.”
When the team finally reached the man and his side-by-side his prosthetic leg was nearby, buried in two feet of mud.
Vogt was glad he’d taken the call. A good towing company could recover the vehicle, but this was a rescue.
“He had no means of being able to walk out,” he said. “If he'd jumped out to try and get to ground, he would have been stuck on one leg. If he didn't have cell service, he'd have been there all night unless somebody spotted him.”
Arm And Leg Work
Once Alpine Fire reached the side-by-side, they determined the mud was too thick to pull it out. They grabbed a shovel and started digging.
“We had a little shovel, but that didn't really work,” Vogt said. “We started digging with our hands.”
Someone got a photo of the moment when the first responders reunited the man with his unburied leg.
“We even entertained the idea that we would have to put a tow strap on his leg to pull it out of the water or out of the mud, but we finally got it out,” Vogt said.
Once they’d excavated enough mud, they winched the side-by-side onto dry ground. Then, the Utah man stepped on the gas and got himself back to the campground where he was staying.
Vogt reminded the public Palisades Reservoir and other bodies of water can be treacherous at this time of year. They can appear deceptively dry but are usually thick with mud and moisture.
“Those areas can be like quicksand,” he said. “It may look like it's dry out, but there are low spots that, once you break the crust or whatever, it's pretty bad.”
Not The One Who Calls
Vogt didn’t get the stranded Utah man’s name, but he did share how ironic the situation was for him, beyond the obvious.
“He said that he's not used to calling for help because he's usually the one giving help,” Vogt said. “He said the way he lost his leg was helping two girls at a car wreck, and a semi hit him.”
The Alpine Fire District responds to a wide variety of calls, but it’s never too late for a first.
“I've been doing this for over 30 years,” Vogt said. “Who would imagine that a call would evolve into that?”
Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.
