Lyon County Sheriff’s Office receives grant for boat
Dominique Kooiker | Editor
dkooiker@ncppub.com
Being prepared for a variety of emergency situations when they arise is a goal of the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office. A recent grant from the Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation has allowed the sheriff’s office to add a new tool to its emergency preparedness kit: a boat that can be used in a variety of emergency situations on the water.
When looking through grants for which the department might be eligible, they came across the Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation. Law enforcement, EMS, public safety organizations, non-profits and schools are encouraged to apply for lifesaving equipment. The Lyon County Sheriff’s Office thought this grant might be the perfect opportunity to get either a boat or a side-by-side UTV.
“The reason we ended up going the boat route was if we have an incident where we need a side-by-side, we could get one pretty quickly from the farmers and such in the communities,” said Brian Hilt, Lyon County Sheriff.
It’s a different situation with boats. Even though people in the area might own boats, they aren’t as readily-available and aren’t built for the purpose for which the sheriff’s office or other first responders would need them.
“The impetus for looking at a boat in particular was, of course, the floods in 2024,” said Hilt.
One specific incident in the 2024 flood that revealed the need for Lyon County first responders to have a boat involved an individual who was driving a pickup pulling a gooseneck trailer. He drove into the flood waters and off the road.
“He ended up hanging from a tree. We didn’t have a drone at the time, so I think Sioux County’s emergency management director came up with a drone. They located him, and then, thankfully, there were enough DNR officers with boats in the area that they were able to come rescue him,” said Hilt.