Two men and a five-year-old boy were on their knees in the water, surrounded by thick fog and just minutes away from being overwhelmed by the rising tide when they were rescued on Sunday.
It was one of two serious calls the Musquash Fire Department received during the long weekend in May, including one on Saturday when a man fell off his boat and died.
Wayne Pollock, head of Musquash Fire Rescue, said the two events are a reminder that Musquash’s scenic watershed can be dangerous if people don’t take proper precautions.
“The area we serve down here … is considered a recreational paradise. And there are always active people in the area,” he said.
“We’ve had a lot of calls over the years. We had to reorient our training and the equipment we bought to deal with this kind of rescue.”
The Maces Bay Ledges at low tide. The area would be underwater at high tide. (Roger Cosman / CBC)
On Sunday, crews had to use this new equipment, including a light and easy-to-maneuver boat, to rescue three people trapped on the ledges of Maces Bay.
The ledges are sandy, rocky, elevated areas of the Bay of Fundy that are exposed at low tide and underwater at high tide.
Pollock said he believes the two men in their 20s and the boy were there to harvest sweets, clams or other seafood. He said they did not notice the tide advancing until it was too late.
“As the tide rises, it’s slowly circling the ledges and all of a sudden they’re not paying attention. They realize, ‘Oh, I’m stuck here,’ and the water keeps coming up more and more.”
He said all three were within minutes of being “swept into the sea”.
The two men and a boy were trapped on one of these ledges when the water rose too high to return to shore. (Roger Cosman / CBC)
One of the men had a cell phone and called 911. Firefighters ventured into a boat to find them, but it was not easy.
“It was extremely foggy there, you couldn’t see much more than 15 or 20 feet in front of you,” Pollock said.
“We had to use all our navigation equipment to get to the ledges.”
To locate the three, the man stayed on the phone with 911 while the rescue ship’s equipment sounded a horn. The man would tell the operator where he thought the sound was coming from and the operator would send radio directions to the rescue team.
“Not worse for wear and tear”
Pollock said when they were rescued, water had reached their knees.
All three were unharmed and happy to be rescued, Pollock said.
“Those were very good spirits, glad we got them on time … they weren’t worse for the wear and tear.”
He said that in this situation, the life jackets would have given them a little more time.
“If the ocean takes over you, you know, you won’t last long with even a lifebuoy, but it will give you extra time that will allow us to get there,” he said.
Pollock said it is essential for people to carry a cell phone, check the tide schedule and pay attention when they are on the ledges, as the tide can rise very quickly.
A man tried to rescue a friend who had fallen from the boat
At around 4pm on Saturday, a 45-year-old man who was fishing had a heart attack and fell into Loch Alva Lake, Pollock said. His friend jumped after him, but neither he nor the other could get back on the boat.
People fishing nearby noticed the men in the water and the owner of a camp used his boat to take them to a more accessible area closer to the dam of Lake Alva.
The men were in the water for about 30 minutes and, due to the remoteness of the area, it took another 30 minutes to take them to Stillwater Road to an ambulance, Pollock said.
“One was very hypothermic. And the other, as I say, did not respond,” he said.
The teams performed CPR on the 45-year-old man until he was handed over to the paramedic. The men were taken to hospital, where the 45-year-old man was pronounced dead. The other man was later discharged from the hospital, Pollock said.
RCMP spokeswoman Jullie Rogers-Marsh said the RCMP is responding to all cases of sudden death and an autopsy has been performed. He said the coroner’s office will review the cause of death and decide whether to investigate further.
Pollock said four or five people have drowned in the area in recent years.
He said he did not know if the two men were wearing life jackets, but anyone going near lakes or rivers should wear one.
“It’s unfortunate, but most people who drowned in the area didn’t wear life jackets and there would be far fewer fatalities if everyone took the time to put on a life jacket,” he said.