Published: July 25, 2008 11:01 pm      

Family of snowmobiler donates SONAR to Camanche

CAMANCHE — A donation from the family of Kurt Spies has purchased a new SONAR system for the Camanche Volunteer Fire Department.

Spies, 27, went snowmobiling with some friends near Rock Creek Park on Jan. 27. Later in the day, he and his friends began to “water skip” by riding the snowmobiles across the backwaters of the Mississippi River. He reportedly had skipped his snowmobile across approximately 1,500 feet of water to another bank, had turned around and was heading back to the shore where his friends were waiting. Just before 5 p.m. that Sunday, he and the snowmobile he was riding entered the icy, 32-degree water. Family members say that his accident was caught on video as one of the friends was taping the water skipping.

“It was so quick. One second you saw him coming back and the next, the (snowmobile) light just went down,” said Kurt’s aunt, Heidi Otte, in regard to the video.

At 4:42 p.m., the Clinton County Sheriff’s Office received the report that a person had gone under the ice in the Mississippi River near Rock Creek Park. The Camanche Fire Department, with assistance from the Clinton Fire Department, the Cordova, Ill., Fire Department and its SONAR equipment, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department and Med Force Helicopter, initiated a search on the surface of the water and from the air. The search was called off at approximately 8 p.m. when conditions became unsafe for emergency personnel on the river.

“They had a point of interest, from watching the video and what people who were there had told them, but they had to call the search off because it was too dangerous to be on the river,” said Karl Otte, Kurt’s uncle.

Emergency personnel continued the search Jan. 28. Kurt’s snowmobile was located and recovered from the river at 4 p.m.

“The hardest part, after the initial shock, was not knowing if they’d find him,” Heidi said.

Recovery efforts resumed on Jan. 29. At 9:30 a.m., Kurt’s body was recovered from the river. Karl and Heidi said the family is very grateful to every search team member and each participating agency that worked to find Kurt.

“They made a huge effort, even though at times it was unsafe. We were just glad we got him back. We’re thankful for that,” Heidi remarked.

She added Clinton County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Kevin Cain was very good to the family, keeping them posted on search activities and information as it became available throughout the search.

After Kurt’s funeral, the Spies family discussed what to do with memorial donations and quickly decided to use some of the money to give back to the agencies that had worked so hard to find Kurt.

“We wanted to give something back, they worked so hard to find him,” said Karl.

Family members talked about the donation to Camanche Fire Department officials, because the incident occurred in their jurisdiction.

“We wanted them to get something that all the agencies involved would benefit from,” Heidi said. “You don’t realize how important all this stuff is until you’re in a situation where you need it. We were glad to do it. Hopefully they can help somebody else out.”

Camanche Fire Chief Dave Schutte said the donation allowed for the purchase of a new SOund and NAvigation Ranging system, the Humminbird 997c widescreen SONAR system. The technology is based on sound waves and determines distance by sending a sound wave signal and measuring the time between the sound transmission and receiving the wave reflection or echo. SONAR is used to locate and define structure, bottom contour and composition, and depth. The system, which features GPS positioning and tracking, can search an area 720 feet wide and up to 250 feet deep. Schutte said the system will greatly enhance the fire department’s ability to perform water searches.

“It’s a nice piece of technology. It doesn’t bring them back, but it can give them a little peace of mind,” he said.

Schutte said he has informed neighboring law enforcement and search and rescue agencies that the new SONAR equipment is available for use through the Camanche Fire Department at a moment’s notice. He expressed appreciation to the family on behalf of the fire department: “The Camanche Fire Department is very grateful to the family of Kurt Spies for their generous donation to allow us to purchase this SONAR. This is a piece of equipment we could not have funded on our own,” said Schutte. “This will benefit not only our department, but departments throughout the area.”