United Cooperative, a farmer-owned cooperative, donated $10,000 to the Beaver Dam Fire Department to help the department in funding its water rescue program. "These funds will help prepare Beaver Dam's response teams with water rescue equipment that is necessary to keep first responders safe and give victims the best possible chance in an unfortunate situation," David Cramer, president and CEO of United Cooperative said in a statement.
Beaver Dam Fire Chief Alan Mannel in a phone interview called the gift a very generous donation. The donation will go toward purchasing exposure suits for water rescues, which will replace the department’s aging rescue suits.
Mannel said that over the last five years, his department has responded to 15-20 lake rescues and he estimates that rescue crews are out on Beaver Dam Lake more than three times a year.
In the statement, Mannel says “a risk management assessment puts a water rescue call in the high-risk/low-frequency category, which is the most dangerous for rescuers and victims alike. These calls resulted in several people being assisted to safety, two bona fide rescues and unfortunately one fatality.”