Mother and child rescued from Buffalo Bill Reservoir

Posted 7/15/21

A mother and her young child were rescued from Buffalo Bill Reservoir on Friday evening, after a sudden windstorm pushed them away from shore and out of their watercraft.

After more than a …

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Mother and child rescued from Buffalo Bill Reservoir

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A mother and her young child were rescued from Buffalo Bill Reservoir on Friday evening, after a sudden windstorm pushed them away from shore and out of their watercraft.

After more than a half-hour of searching, first responders located the 28-year-old woman and her 5-year-old daughter in the choppy reservoir and brought them to safety.

The call for help came in at 5:17 p.m., while Park County Search and Rescue personnel were already providing assistance in the Beartooth Mountains.

The mother had been aboard a sit-on-top kayak, towing her child on an innertube at the Buffalo Bill Reservoir’s North Shore. When the wind quickly picked up, the kayak was blown away from the shore and further into the reservoir, the Park County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

Personnel from Park County Search and Rescue, the sheriff’s office, Cody Regional Health EMS and the Cody Fire Department were all dispatched to the scene. While they were en route, at 5:29 p.m., they received word that the kayak had flipped and both the mother and child were in the water.

The first unit arrived on scene at 5:33 p.m. and rescuers “wasted no time getting in the water,” said Charla Baugher Torczon, a spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office.

Deputies assisted by taking high points on the bank and searching the reservoir with binoculars.

“The wind was blowing and gusting so hard it was pushing the units still on shore forward,” Torczon said. “The surface of the water was very turbulent and nothing but white caps — which were 6 to 8 feet tall — were visible to the searchers.”

The team located the kayak around 5:50 p.m., but it was empty.

Additional personnel arrived to assist and the teams began to expand their search perimeter, with both watercraft and people in the water. Finally, at 6:06 p.m., the child was located. She had a personal floatation device (PFD), and was conscious and alert. The 5-year-old was quickly lifted into a boat and wrapped in blankets while being treated by a paramedic. The girl was then taken to shore, and turned over to a waiting ambulance. Meanwhile, at 6:24 p.m., searchers found the girl’s mother, who had managed to stay above water and was also conscious and alert. She was lifted into a boat, treated by a paramedic on board and then brought to shore and the waiting ambulance — where she was reunited with her daughter. Both were transported to Cody Regional Health.

“This is an example of a PFD saving a life,” stated Park County Search and Rescue Coordinator Bill Brown, “with the ever-changing conditions in this area there is never a routine day. Safety precautions should always be in place.” 

Park County Undersheriff Andy Varian, who was one of the deputies on the shore, also praised the work of the first responders.

“The speed and teamwork of getting the boat on the water, assembling a team to go out (to include medical personnel) and launching the effort with everyone knowing exactly their role was both impressive and highly professional,” Varian said.

Making the effort more impressive was that other search and rescue and Cody Regional Health crews were simultaneously responding to the Beartooths, to assist a pair of kayakers at Lily Lake. That call came in at 4:39 p.m. Friday — less than an hour before the incident at the reservoir — for a 67-year-old man and a 72-year-old woman.

The woman had been kayaking in the lake when her watercraft overturned, the sheriff’s office said. While she was able to get back to shore, she and her husband were exhausted and couldn’t make the hike back to their vehicle. Ultimately, EMS and search and rescue personnel located the couple at 6:52 p.m. and helped them get back to their vehicle by 7:23 p.m., safe and unharmed.

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