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A Polaris RANGER served as a 6-wheeled lifeline recently for an elderly North Dakota man who was rescued from his flooded homestead and transported to safety by members of the Manvel Township (N.D.) Rural Fire Protection squad.
The RANGER was used extensively by the Manvel firefighters as they provided aid, delivered sandbags and conducted rescue missions after flood waters from the Red River and other waterways spread across the area.
“You guys make one heck of a product,” said Tom Zeidlik, a medic and firefighter with the all-volunteer Manvel Rural Fire Protection department. “It was really unfortunate we only had one RANGER. Other vehicles were far too heavy to use on the wet ground. That thing worked its tail off… For a period of about 10 days, the RANGER was the only vehicle we could use, and we used it every day.”
The Manvel firefighters acquired the RANGER in 2005 through the U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company’s Operation RANGER, in which they provide local fire, rescue and law enforcement agencies with Polaris RANGER 6x6 utility vehicles.
Before flood season, the Manvel department had used its RANGER primarily to fight grass fires. The vehicle is equipped with a light bar and a special skid that fits into the cargo box and holds a small water tank.
RANGER Was Busy During Flood Season
Manvel is located in the Red River Valley, named for the large, northern-flowing river that floods nearly every spring because of snow melt and seasonal rainfall. While some large cities such as Grand Forks, N.D., have built significant dike systems to divert flood water around the cities, small towns like Manvel – population 200 – fend off the water with sandbags.
“Our [department’s] main job was making the sandbags and protecting peoples’ homes,” said Zeidlik, an aviation instructor at the University of North Dakota. “We filled sandbags and people would drive in and pick them up, or if they needed help, we would haul them out, sometimes in the RANGER, and help them at their homes. We also used the RANGER to carry supplies and people, and we were in charge of rescues.”
One woman’s home was surrounded by water, so the firefighters worked with the sheriff’s department to rescue her and her dog by boat. Another area resident was rescued thanks to the RANGER.
RANGER Makes a Lifesaving Rescue Run
A woman called 911 to report she couldn’t make contact with her father. Zeidlik described the man as “an elderly gentleman with pre-existing medical conditions” who had been hospitalized just one week earlier. The man’s daughter knew he needed medical attention, so she made her call and the firefighters used the RANGER to reach his flooded property.
Zeidlik, his wife Kelli (who is also a medic) and firefighter Tracy Shimpa loaded medical supplies in the cargo box and attached a backboard to the box. Then they began the treacherous run to the man’s property, which was flooded on three sides of his house.
“We had to drive across just under 2 miles of mud and standing water,” Zeidlik said. “We loaded the gentleman onto the backboard and secured it to the RANGER, and one person attended to him in the back while we drove out. We took him by RANGER to the closest road, where the ambulance was waiting.
“I can tell you with great certainly that if we hadn’t had that RANGER, that gentleman wouldn’t be here today... Other than finding someone with a helicopter, that man was not going anywhere without the RANGER.”
Flooded Farmland Posed a Challenge
The ground they traversed during the rescue run wasn’t merely muddy – it was nearly impassable, Zeidlik said.
“It was wet, greasy mud – probably 6 inches deep – and there was standing water a foot deep,” he said. “I just locked it into 6-wheel drive and stood on the gas pedal. I never took my foot off the gas. We were probably only going 15 mph – tops – in those conditions, and I was not going to take my foot off the gas. It was quite an adventure.”
Zeidlik is a veteran off-road vehicle rider, but he had never experienced such reliable traction as the RANGER delivered in this emergency situation.
“I’ve never seen anything like this. You guys make one heck of a product. I’ve been riding and racing dirt bikes and ATVs all my life, so I have a pretty good idea of what they’re able to go through, but this RANGER just went and went and went.”
Hoping to Acquire Another RANGER
The Manvel department found so many uses for the RANGER, and found its performance to be so outstanding, that an effort has been launched to acquire another one.
“In a perfect world, we’d have two RANGERs and a hovercraft – or just a fleet of RANGERs,” he said. “Many of our members weren’t sure we’d find a use for the RANGER, but now we’re not sure how we went so long without one. We use it so often we have started a very aggressive fundraising campaign to try to raise some money to get another one.”
‘Operation RANGER’ Helps Numerous Communities
The U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company’s Operation RANGER awarded RANGER utility vehicles to more than 70 agencies across the United States in the past year. Over 200 utility vehicles have been provided to agencies in the past four years, and applications for the 2007 program will be available in the fall on the U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company’s website: www.ussmokeless.com.
In a statement on the website, the company said: “The Operation RANGER program exists both to recognize the service of our nation’s emergency responders and to provide a versatile, practical vehicle that will enhance emergency response capability at the community level. We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Polaris Industries, the National Volunteer Fire Council and the many vehicle recipient agencies that have helped us shape this signature program since its inception as a pilot program in late 2002.”
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