Ottawa County News

The Coast Guard and a good Samaritan rescued 4 people after their 20-foot boat caught fire on the Grand River, Sunday. A boat crew from Coast Guard Station Grand Haven was on an afternoon boat safety patrol near the Grand Haven Power Plant at about 3:45 p.m. when they witnessed a person jump from a boat and into the water. When they arrived on scene to pull that person out of the water, three other people jumped in the water from the same boat, seconds before the boat burst into flames. Neither person who jumped into the water was wearing a life jacket. The Coast Guard crew pulled two people out the water and onto their 25-foot response boat. A good Sam pulled the other two persons out of the water before transferring them to the Coast Guard boat.

Representatives from the Flagship Niagara League were in Toledo on Wednesday to announce two new partnerships --- A new scholarship and training opportunity for cadets at The Maritime Academy of Toledo, and a five-year port agreement with the Put-In-Bay Chamber of Commerce. Around 25 people, including representatives of the Ottawa County Visitor’s Bureau and the Toledo Convention and Visitor’s Bureau attended the press conference held at The Maritime Academy of Toledo. Shawn Waskiewicz, Executive Director, Flagship Niagara League, presented The Maritime Academy of Toledo with a $10,000 check to help launch a $30,000 Scholarship Trainee Cadet Fund for the school.

U.S. and Canadian Coast Guard crews continue to search for three people in the water in Lake Erie, Thursday, after one body was recovered and a boat was found five miles northeast of Locust Point, Ohio. The Coast Guard is not releasing the names of the missing people or the recovered individual at the request of the families. Coast Guard crews investigated a report of a second body in the water but found it was a floating log. The search commenced at 2 a.m. after a watchstander at Sector Detroit received a report that a fishing group was overdue on returning home. The boat was discovered on Toussaint Reef, approximately five miles northeast of Locust Point. The group's truck and boat trailer were found at the Locust Point boat ramp.

The U.S. Coast Guard and representatives from local emergency response agencies responded to the scene of a truck that fell through the ice, Friday morning, near Catawba Island in western Lake Erie. Two people were in the truck when it broke through the ice, but they were able to escape and get to shore before the truck completely fell through the ice. At about 10 a.m., a watchstander at Coast Guard Station Marblehead, Ohio, received a call from a dispatcher at the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office, who was relaying a report originally received by the Catawba Island Township Police Department that a truck was falling through the ice. The vehicle reportedly fell through the ice about a quarter mile north of Catawba Island near the Miller Ferry Boat Lines.

Brunswick Commercial & Government Products (BCGP) deliver a Boston Whaler 27' Vigilant patrol boat to the Ottawa County (MI) Sheriff's office. The Sheriff's office is tasked with law patrol, law enforcement, and fire suppression activities for the local river, which includes three harbors and a power plant, and to fulfill these tasks, the Sheriff's Office chose a commercially built Boston Whaler walkaround cabin model. The boat is powered by twin Yamaha engines, and includes the newest fire pump offering from BCGP, a 130 hp Mercruiser that mounts inside the cabin, leaving the deck clear.