Rescuer says lost men made wise decisions
Derek Neary
Northern News Services
Fort Simpson (Feb 02/01) - Two men were rescued Sunday morning after failing to return to Fort Simpson late Saturday afternoon.
The men, in their 20s, departed on snowmobiles Saturday morning and were expected to return in the late afternoon but never showed up.
Concerned family and friends reported them missing and the Fort Simpson Ranger and the RCMP began a search.
Aerial searches were conducted Sunday morning and afternoon, but there was no sign of the missing men. However, some trappers were noticed returning to the community from their traplines. The Rangers contacted the trappers for any clues.
"They (the trappers) said, 'Well they can't be that way because I just came back and I didn't see a damn thing.' So we eliminated quite a few places by doing that," Rangers Sgt. Jim Villeneuve explained.
Having narrowed down possible locations, the Rangers split up into two groups and began a search by snowmobile at 9 p.m. on Sunday.
Rangers Dennis Nelner, Gord Villeneuve and Paul Guyot found the men approximately 8.5 kilometres from Fort Simpson, roughly following the route where the Enbridge pipeline crosses the Mackenzie River.
The missing men had encountered difficulty on the rough ice on the Mackenzie River and their snowmobiles were rendered useless, according to Nelner.
"They had made a shelter and had a fire going. They were in pretty good spirits other than being a little bit hungry and thirsty," Nelner said.
Rather than risk trying to cross the jagged Mackenzie on their own snowmobiles, the Rangers hiked across the frozen river. They gave the men something to eat and then everyone returned to the community by around 2 a.m.
Villeneuve gave the missing men credit for making a couple of wise decisions.
"They stayed where they were, not wandering off. They kept the fires going. They did good in that respect," he said.
Nelner and Villeneuve said the RCMP played a key role by providing equipment, acting as a communications command post, and assisting with coordination.
"I think with every search and rescue that we've gone on, it keeps getting better and better in terms of coordination and mobilizing resources," Nelner said.
Villeneuve, who noted that the Rangers are usually called upon at least once each winter for search and rescue operations, added, "I guess having done it a couple of times, we're getting a little better."
