Attempting a rescue: Dan Dall

Dan Dall,  Batalion Chief, Cedar Rapids Fire Department

It was 2 a.m., and the last mission of the evening.

Dan Dall, then a captain with the Cedar Rapids Fire Department, said he had a feeling that the rescue - slated somewhere along Old River Road - wasn't going to be a good one due to its proximity to the Cedar River.

"I was thinking when we were going there that the water was just going to be too rapid to even try it at that point," Dall said. "And we backed up and you can see, in the picture backdrop, the water was actually really calm where we put in, that lasted for a little while. We were just going to proceed until we couldn't go anymore."

With help from a Gazette reporter with a computer, Dall said the team had to use Google Maps to figure out exactly where they were trying to go. Soon enough, Dall said the current began to speed up, and he and his team found themselves ducking under power lines near the Old Shack Tavern.

"We were getting into that main channel and we had one or two police officers with us, and I think they were getting kind of nervous too and it was dark, and we just kept going until we felt like it wasn't safe anymore," Dall said. "We ended up having to turn around and come back when we started to lose control of the boat, I just didn't want to try to get my guys in a position to be wrapped around a tree down there and then become victims ourselves."

After having to turn around, Dall said he had the team drop him off near the tavern where he took off on foot to see whether there was any other way they could get to the rescue site. He decided there wasn't a safe way to get to the mission, but concluded the people they were trying to get to were in a position to get to higher ground on their own, and not in immediate danger.

"We just went until we couldn't go anymore, that's basically how it was," Dall said.