Sheriff’s Office Training On Flaming Gorge Reservoir Turns Into Real Water Rescue

A Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office training exercise on Flaming Gorge Reservoir on Wednesday turned into a real rescue for five deputies and a K-9 on board.

The department’s Marine Unit was conducting a joint training exercise near Buckboard Marina with the K-9 division to acclimate the police dogs to being on a boat and the water, said Sweetwater Sheriff’s Office Deputy Jason Mower.

They were training with the 28-foot Munson landing craft the sheriff’s office bought last year when the front gate was deployed for a beach landing, but dipped too low and took on water, Mower told Cowboy State Daily.

“Basically, the boat was slowing down, approaching the shore,” he said. “The idea was to lower the gate, beach the boat and allow the K-9 and K-9 handler to offload onto the beach.”

When the boat took on water, it did what it was designed to do, Mower said: flip over but continue floating and not sink.

‘Heroes Saving The Heroes’

While all five officers and the one K-9 on board at the time are fine, the incident easily could’ve had a much more tragic ending, Mower said.

The officer captaining the boat was in an enclosed cabin while the dog’s leash had become tangled so the K-9 couldn’t get off.

As soon as they realized there was trouble, another deputy rushed to the cabin to let the captain out, Mower said.

And after the boat rolled and he realized the dog hadn’t made it off, the K-9’s handler went in and got the leash untangled and rescued the dog.

Sheriff John Grossnickle said he’s proud of how the personnel on board handled themselves.

“While this incident could’ve been far worse, the professionalism, composure and teamwork displayed today ensured everyone’s safety,” he said in the agency’s report. “We’re grateful to the deputies who acted quickly and to the first responders and medical teams who provided care.”

Mower agrees.

“The takeaway for me was just the composure of our staff,” Mower said. “Between the handler being of sound mind enough in the moment to realize your K-9 partner is tangled up and to rescue the dog. One deputy immediately realized the captain was going to be at least partially trapped in that cabin, so it easily could’ve went very badly.

"Heroes saving the heroes."

Civilians on the reservoir at the time also responded to help, Mower said.

Train For A Reason

The result is a “best-case scenario” for an outcome of having a boat overturned, Mower said, adding that it highlights the need to always be vigilant and prepared.

“Everyone was in the water for a minute, but was rescued,” he said.

The purpose of the training was to get the agency’s three K-9s acclimated to being on a boat and on the water. That’s in case of a water rescue or other situation that requires the dogs to be on a boat to not be unnerved by an unfamiliar situation.

All the human officers were wearing life vests, Mower said.

The K-9s weren’t, but the incident highlighted that might be an area for improvement and that, “We probably need K-9 life vests, too.”

Greg Johnson can be reached at greg@cowboystatedaily.com.