photo by: Lauren Fox

A boat crosses Clinton Lake on Friday, May 8, 2020.

Area fire crews were busy over the weekend not just with dangerous fire weather, but also with a water rescue at Clinton Lake after a boat capsized.

Strong winds caused a sailboat to overturn on the lake around 1 p.m. Sunday, according to a social media post from the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, about 50 to 75 yards from the Clinton Dam Tower. There were three people aboard the boat.

One person was able to swim to the lake’s shore where deputies made initial contact and assisted with medical care. Two others remained inside the boat until Consolidated Fire District #1 crews responded to the incident. Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical also launched an additional boat to provide safety and support, a social media post from CFD1 said. CFD1 rescued the two other adults, and LDCFM helped provide medical care.

Medics treated all three people for cold exposure, the post said. Nobody had to be taken to the hospital by ambulance, and no other injuries were reported. Sheriff’s Office deputies notified the Kansas Department of Wildlife & Parks about the boat, which remained in the water on Sunday afternoon.

As the Journal-World reported, the National Weather Service said there would be dangerous fire weather conditions anticipated all weekend. A red flag warning was issued on both Saturday and Sunday, and a county burn ban was in effect.

CFD1 responded to a total of 12 incidents over the weekend, according to another social media post. There were five vegetation fires within the fire department’s jurisdiction, two mutual aid responses for grass fires, four medical calls and the water rescue from Clinton Lake.

“We are pleased to report that we had no major vegetation fires all weekend,” the post said. “With the Red Flag warnings, any large fires that started would have been difficult to control. All the fires we responded to were minor and quickly brought under control.”