La Ronge Deputy Fire Chief Matt Rexin pulled the dog out of the Montreal River. (Submitted photo/Autumn Carlson)

By Derek Cornet

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Firefighter swims in Montreal River to save stray dog

Mar 22, 2022 | 4:38 PM

It was a close call for a stray dog that was rescued from the icy current of the Montreal River last week in Air Ronge.

On March 17 at 5:44 p.m., the La Ronge Regional Fire Department was dispatched to a report of a dog having falling into the river near the bridge and in need of ice rescue. The 911 call had come from local resident Autumn Carlson, who was driving towards La Ronge and had witnessed with her son the dog fall into the water.

“We could see him struggling,” she said. “He almost got himself out. He had the whole top of his body out of the ice, but his feet were kind of dragging. They were just being pulled under the ice, so he couldn’t get enough leverage to get himself up.”

Carlson explained firefighters arrived within minutes, but they weren’t immediately able to rescue the dog from the water. They also warned Carlson not to try rescue it herself and wait for assistance to arrive.

Carlson estimated the dog was in the water for at least 25 minutes. She noted he was able swim for much of the time, but then suddenly began to waiver. By this time, other people were gathering at the bridge as well.

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“Finally someone said ‘there he goes,’ and the dog kind of closed his eyes and went down and he had very little of his head outside of the water and the current was going to take him under,” Carlson recalled. “That kind of woke him up and he started struggling again and that’s when [Matt Rexin] ran by me with the rope and he got on all fours and slithered out there.”

Deputy Fire Chief Rexin was able to maneuver to the dog by sliding on his stomach, but he fell into the water while trying to lift it on to the ice. He was ultimately able rescue the dog from the river and firefighter Brent McDougall assisted in its recovery.

“He was only out there for a few minutes. He was fast,” Carlson said about Rexin. “Ice rescue didn’t have time to get there and the dog was fading. I was yelling ‘you can’t let this dog die, please save this dog,’ and that’s when he went right passed me with the rope.”

The dog spend the night with Carlson before being transferred to the Northern Village of Air Ronge for a few days. He wasn’t claimed and is now in a foster home through Northern Animal Rescue (NAR). He is also available for adoption and residents can contact NAR for an application if they want him.

The dog is currently in a foster home and is up for adoption. (Submitted photo/Autumn Carlson)

Thinking back on that day, Carlson added a lesson everyone can learn is not to make quick decisions and instead allow for first responders to deal with an emergency situation.

“We could hear the dog just crying. It was just howling and barking. It was awful and he was just trying to get out,” Carlson remembered. “In the heat of the moment it’s easy to make rash judgements and want to save a life and risk your own, but that would have been really dangerous if me or someone else tried it.”

La Ronge Regional Fire Department didn’t respond to a request for comment from larongeNOW by publishing.

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derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @saskjourno