Logger Rescued South of Bemidji After Equipment Breaks Through Ice

A logger was rescued on Saturday just south of Bemidji after a piece of logging equipment he was operating broke through the ice.

According to the Hubbard County Sheriff’s Office, Roy Davis, 45, of Barnwell, South Carolina was operating the equipment when it broke through a frozen area on the edge of a swamp near Big LaSalle Lake. The machine tipped over and became completely submerged with water and Davis was unable to exit out of the door or window because of mud and ice.

The Sheriff’s Office says Davis was freed from the machine when another worker used an excavator and quickly dug around where the machine had sunk. Davis was airlifted to the hospital in Fargo to be treated and released for hypothermia. The high temperature in Bemidji on Saturday was -10 below.

Enbridge Energy spokesperson Juli Kellner confirms that Davis was working in the area as a part of the Line 3 pipeline project.