Off duty firefighters save capsized kayaker

By Lorenzo Gavilan Vargas Times Reporter

On June 13, two off duty firefighters from the Langdon Fire Department assisted a kayaker in danger after she capsized at Wyndham-Carseland Provincial Park.

Captain Carl Wenstrom and Lieutenant James Kershaw were relaxing and spending time with friends and family when they heard a commotion.

“There was a lady … she’d actually fallen off her kayak and been swept right into the middle of the river and was headed to the weir there,” said Wenstrom. “It’s a pretty dangerous piece of water.”

After the two were alerted by nearby onlookers, Wenstrom and Kershaw rushed to their boat to assist the kayaker.

“We pulled her onto the back of the boat and then circled around a second time to pick up her kayak and got it to shore just as her husband was showing up to pick her up,” said Kershaw, who added the rescue took no more than five minutes, and it was fate that they happened to be there.

“It was just luck, really. It was just luck that we were there and we saw her. It’s not our first river rescue being firefighters. We’ve done some rescues before, we were just in the right place at the right time.”

Their years of experience as firefighters was a large factor in the rescue. Wenstrom has provided 28 years of service, while Kershaw has provided 17. Wenstrom said there had been a few rescues in the same place previously.

“The day before that, the Saturday, Wheatland Fire and Rescue rescued a gentleman who managed to grab a hold of the chain and was hanging there in the river holding onto the chain with these buoys on it. So, yes, it’s a very dangerous piece of river and it does get people into trouble. Eight days prior to us being there, there was another incident down there that was handled by Wheatland Fire and Rescue.”

Wenstrom said that as long as you know what you’re getting yourself into, it should not be a problem.

“Like any activity, if you deal with it with a healthy amount of respect, it can be done quite safely.” 

The kayaker has not reached out to the two firefighters yet; however her husband expressed their gratitude to the Langdon Fire Department via email.