A park ranger was killed Sunday at a Minnesota national park when his rescue boat capsized in a lake while rescuing a family of three stranded in strong winds and rough seas, authorities said.
The ranger, whose identity has not yet been released, responded to a call about a civilian vessel in distress at Lake Namakan in Voyager National Park late Sunday morning, according to the National Park Service (NPS).
The Ranger's boat capsized while towing a civilian vessel on the lake. A ranger and three civilians on the NPS boat were all thrown overboard, officials said.
The three civilians swam to safety, but the ranger never resurfaced.
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According to the NPS website, Lake Namakan is 26 miles long and 25,130 acres in size. (Emily Kurmis/NPS)
Rangers, along with the U.S. Border Patrol, St. Louis County Sheriff's Office and Kabetogama Fire Department, conducted a three-hour search and recovered the missing Ranger's body from the lake at 3:20 p.m., according to the NPS.
As rangers were rescuing the family, fierce winds were creating waves five to six feet high. The Minnesota Star Tribune reported.
Voyageurs National Park spans 218,000 acres of lakes, forests, and streams in northern Minnesota, according to the NPS. (NPS)
St. Louis County Sheriff Gordon Ramsay told the newspaper that one of the rangers who responded said he had never seen wind conditions “so wild.”
Ramsay said the ranger who died was experienced and nearing retirement.
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“He was all about helping others, and that's why he died helping others,” Ramsey told the Star Tribune. “No matter how you looked at it, he had the heart of a servant.”
The ranger's identity had not yet been released as of Monday morning. (National Park Service)
The ranger is the second person to die at the national park in recent months.
In June, 78-year-old park ranger Tom Rohrig died in Utah after falling while working with visitors at Bryce Canyon National Park's annual astronomy festival.
The incident at Voyageurs National Park remains under investigation.
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Voyageurs National Park is located in northern Minnesota near the Canadian border with Lake Namakan.
