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People need to remember – Quicksand can form wherever there is water and mud or dirt or sand. IE – just about anywhere..

A Flandreau couple is hoping to warn the public about the danger of getting too close to bodies of water that have deceptively soft ground surrounding them.

Reg Bauske had a near-death experience with his pond earlier this week, and says it could happen to others.

When Bauske spotted a duckling stuck in mud on his 13-acre pond on Sunday, his environmentalist instincts kicked in, and he tried to walk into the water to free it.

“It looked solid, it really looked good. I mean, it looked like it was the bottom of the pond,” Bauske said.

Instead, while trying to save a life, he put his own in jeopardy. Bauske stepped into what he thought was ankle-deep water, but silt and water from farm run-off thinned the ground so much that he sank into it, to his waist.

“Had it been deeper, yes, I probably would’ve died,” Bauske said.

And the more Bauske struggled, the deeper he sank.

“It was like quicksand. And the mud that he had thrown behind him as he sat down and stood up was starting to slide towards him,” wife Gloria Bauske said.

“It was like a vacuum – your legs were stuck in there like a vacuum and you weren’t going to get out,” Bauske said.
But Flandreau Volunteer Firefighter Justin Krull, who helped pull Bauske out of the pond, says there are steps people can take to prevent the trouble.

“Try not to get too excited about it. The more excited you get, and thrashing around, then the worse it’s going to be,”

Krull also says to always bring someone with you and a cell phone, especially for hunters and fishers who hang around lakes and wetlands.

Doing so could keep you on safe and solid ground.

While bauske treats the incident seriously, he did walk away with a laugh and a lesson – the duckling stuck in the pond managed to free itself just as Bauske got stuck.

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A 10-year-old boy who drowned in the River Severn died accidentally, a coroner has recorded.

Tom Haile from Hardwicke, Gloucestershire, was swept away while playing on mud flats between Newnham and Arlingham on 27 July 2008.

“He surfaced three times and I got hold of him and tried to save him but the current was unbelievable,” said Tom’s 17-year-old cousin Danny Webb.

An oak tree has been planted near the spot where Tom died in his memory.

Soft mud

The youngster was with other children when he was swept into the river.

A member of the public found Tom’s body 400 yards (365m) from the Passage Inn on the east bank about 13 hours later.

Memoral plaque to Tom Haile

The Severn has fast-rising tides which can catch people out

After recording the death as accidental at the Shire Hall in Gloucester, Coroner Alan Crickmore said children should see Tom’s death as a warning that waterways need to be treated with the utmost respect.

Tom’s mother Jessica Haile said more should be done to alert children to the dangers of playing in waterways.

“The sand and mud banks in the Severn suffer from really soft mud which can trap you very quickly, sandbanks which have quicksand in them and coupled to the tide which floods in about three-and-a-half hours here,” said Geoff Dawes of the Severn Area Rescue Association.

“Anyone getting trapped has very little time to be rescued.”

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Man rescued from Vadnais Heights swamp

A man is recovering after he found himself trapped up to his neck in a swamp near the border of White Bear Township and Vadnais Heights.

Officials say Scott Karas, of Hastings, became trapped in the swampy area near Interstate 35E and Country Road F around 12 p.m.

White Bear Lake Fire Chief Tim Vadnais says Karas had been contracted to survey the power line for Xcel Energy and was knee-deep in water when he slipped, sinking up to his neck in the quicksand-like mud.

“Luckily, he had a cell phone with him and was able to call his partner and tell him he was in trouble out there and his partner called us,” Vadnais said.

Rescue crews donned wet suits to slide into the water and were able to tie a rope around Karas, before using a hovercraft to pull him to safety.

“He seemed quite upset when rescue crews got to him, he was very cold. They took him to the hospital for possible hypothermia,” said Vadnais.

Karas was transported to Regions Hospital in St. Paul to be treated. By Monday evening, he was released.

 

Rescuers save girl in Southport beach mud trap drama

Apr 22 2009 Midweek Visiter

A TEENAGE girl had to be pulled from mud at Southport by coastguard rescuers after attempting to walk to Blackpool with friends.

The 19-year-old, visiting the resort on a day trip, became trapped 200 yards north of the pier on Sunday.

And the coastguards have now issued a stark warning about the perils of Southport beach as the sunshine draws huge crowds.

The girl and two friends, all said to be from the Liverpool area, were overheard to be ‘walking to Blackpool’ by onlookers.

The youngster got into difficulties just yards into the perilous 12 mile trip, and rescuers were alerted by a member of the public.

Deputy station officer Simon Littler said: “She had been struggling to free her legs from the mud for about 15 minutes.

“That part of the beach is like an active minefield. When you’ve got out of one sticky situation, one wrong foot and you’re in trouble again.

“In sunny weather, walking to Blackpool does look quite appealing but it is a lot further away that it looks.

“Because it looks doable that’s where the problems start. Only when you do this job do you learn just how ruthless the beach can be.

 

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“There is quicksand up to 4ft deep and it is difficult to track. There is no sort of set area.

“Unfortunately, the water is like a magnet and people are attracted to walk out to it. They don’t realise the danger in what they are doing.”

Coastguards expect record numbers on Southport beach this summer and fear the combination of uninformed holidaymakers on unforgiving sands could be a recipe for disaster.