Ranger dies in Minnesota while trying to rescue family in lake

Authorities reported that A park ranger died Sunday in a Minnesota national park when his rescue boat capsized in a lake while he was helping three stranded family members. in the midst of strong winds and turbulent waters.

The ranger, who has not yet been publicly identified, responded Sunday morning to a call about a civilian vessel in distress on Namakan Lake in Voyageurs National Park, the National Park Service (NPS) said.

The ranger’s boat capsized while towing the civilian vessel on the lake. The man and three civilians who were aboard the National Park Service boat were thrown into the water, authorities said.

As the three civilians swam to safety, the ranger did not surface.

Rangers, along with the U.S. Border Patrol, the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office and the Kabetogama Fire Department, conducted a three-hour search and recovered the body of the missing ranger from the lake at 3:20 p.m

The strong winds had caused waves between five and six feet high at the time the ranger was helping the family.the Minnesota Star Tribune reported.

St. Louis County Sheriff Gordon Ramsay told the newspaper that one of the rangers who responded said he had never seen such “wild” wind conditions.

Ramsay said the deceased ranger was experienced and close to retirement.

“All he wanted was to help others and he died for that. He had a servant’s heart, by all accounts,” Ramsay told the Star Tribune.

The ranger is the second to die in a national park in a matter of months.

In June, park ranger Tom Lorig, 78, died in Utah after suffering injuries in a fall while working with visitors at Bryce Canyon National Park’s annual Astronomy Festival.

The incident at Voyageurs National Park remains under investigation.

Voyageurs National Park is located in northern Minnesota, with Namakan Lake near the Canadian border.

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