cdon’t even open their eyes down there. It doesn’t matter.”
Fifteen to 20 feet deep, infused with silt and largely unexplored along much of its hard, graveled bottom, the Red holds back its mysteries. Yet the 13 volunteer public safety divers who assist Clay and Cass County authorities are uniquely prepared to find answers to deep, dark questions when people, vehicles or property disappear into the silty waters of northern rivers and deep, cold lakes.
Over the past 25 years, Valley Water Rescue – an independent, nonprofit organization that aids area fire departments and law enforcement agencies – stands by to supplement the public safety departments by diving from shore, from boats and through holes in the ice to locate the lost and — once in a blue moon — save lives from death by drowning.
Professional baker Pete Fendt was one of the founders of the now-25-member group decades ago. It formed in the wake of Fargo-Moorhead’s “Christmas miracle” in 1987 – the rescue of 11-year-old Alvaro Garza, Jr., from beneath the ice across the Red River by local firefighters. That he survived after 45 minutes submerged was, Pete says, nearly unique. But the need to conduct the search in the forbidding cold of December would never be a one-time challenge.
But, he concedes, happy endings like Garza’s are seldom the rule. “There’s what we call ‘the golden hour,’” he explains, “from the time someone goes into the water until they’re rescued. If all conditions are perfect – the victim is young, the water is unpolluted, the temperature is very cold – there’s a slim chance of survival.” More common, though, is recovery. Searches may also seek submerged vehicles or stolen property thrown into the river … or even confirm whether or not someone went into the water in the first place.
Traditionally, fire departments have been in charge of water rescue. Before the Valley Rescue unit was organized, they’d call to find a volunteer from the four dive shops then doing business here. But public safety diving, Pete points out, is altogether different from recreational diving. No warm blue sunlit waters, colorful marine life and ideal destinations prevail. Instead, the work is dangerous, physically exhausting and performed under truly miserable conditions. It requires special training, both in the basics of evidence handling and the more advanced techniques of water rescue in circumstances ranging from strong current to moving around near-freezing water deep under the ice.
Putting the needs and possibilities together, Pete and Mike Knorr, who owned Mick’s Scuba in Moorhead, formed a new force to assist fire and law enforcement in challenging missions that perhaps exceeded their staff’s capabilities. Assistant Fire Chiefs Marty Soeth of Moorhead and Joe Upton of Fargo came on board, along with all the local scuba shops. With support from then-Fargo Mayor Bruce Furness and Sheriffs Larry Costello and Don Rudnick, they organized their independent unit in 1993.
Back then, Pete says, members raised funds for equipment and training through whatever method worked, from writing grants and addressing service clubs to selling pizzas. Today their $41,000 annual budget is prorated among the four cities and two counties they primarily serve.
Twenty-three years ago, the team’s greatest needs were the 80-some pounds of specialized heavy-duty gear used in rescue work, including essential bright red Mustang float coats and survival suits for the frigid depths of winter. As technology has evolved, they’ve added other tools: communications units that connect tethered divers to their handlers – called “tenders” – up above; full face masks and other protective gear; watercraft for searches that can’t be launched from shore; and an $80,000 self-propelled sonar unit operated by joystick to go where human divers can’t. They have also purchased a drone, flown by the two team members who are licensed pilots.
The most vital components, however, are human – and canine. The experienced team of volunteers includes 13 divers and eight tenders, who help them suit up, check their gear and function as their lifelines up on top. While not all tenders intend to go into the water, all divers do undergo cross training; everyone starts as a tender, whether or not they plan to go on to dive.
Every mission requires five team members: One primary diver and his tender, who relays messages and monitors his breathing and air supply; a backup diver who is fully ready to dive if he’s needed; a third diver who’s 90 percent ready except for mask and fins; and a second tender to back up the first.
The canine element of the team seldom gets its feet wet. Five dogs and their four handlers supplement the human diving volunteers. Three man-trailing dogs, including two bloodhounds, who can follow a specific person’s scent over land and water, and a HRD (human remains detecting) golden retriever named Scupper. While the human team has assisted in rescue and recovery across 17 counties of North Dakota and Minnesota, the dogs have done their thing even farther afield. “An HRD dog, in particular, is worth its weight in gold,” Pete points out.
The work is sporadic for both man and beast. Pete – who works as a baker in the Concordia College Food Service – tells of one year when Valley Water Rescue was called out for 10 recoveries. “Then we had not one for the next year and a half,” he says. “And that’s a good thing.”
Valley Water Rescue members span a wide age range. One member started at 18, the minimum age to be deputized by the Cass County Sheriff’s Reserve and Clay Sheriff’s Posse. (All must be volunteer deputies, with a basic sense of crime-scene protocol and evidence collection.) Others, like Pete, are over 60. While most are male, two women work as tenders.
“We’re looking for more volunteers,” Pete reports. “If you’re interesting and willing to do the work we do – even if you’re not already experienced in recreational diving – we’d like to talk to you.” While divers must start out with their own equipment, the team budgets for the drysuits and more advanced gear they use. It also covers the cost of advanced training required for public safety diving.
Interested in learningmore about joining Valley Water Rescue? Pete recommends visiting its website, valleywaterrescue.com, where contact information is available.
