Cliff Buchan
News Editor

It was a busy holiday weekend in Forest Lake for police and the calls ranged from finding lost children to fireworks complaints.

Chief of Police Clark Quiring said his department received 30 fireworks complaints from late Thursday, June 30 through midnight Monday, July 4. The chief said there were more than likely many other complaints that were not reported.

Two lost children were found safely on Monday.

A Wyoming boy, 7, was reported missing by his family at 6:31 p.m. from the Lakeside Memorial Park area. A city officer found the boy swimming at the beach area.

Quiring said searchers from Forest Lake Fire & Rescue and the Washington County Water Rescue team were called in to help search for the boy. He was safely located within 30 minutes, the chief said.

The second lost child was an 11-year-old boy from Hugo who became separated from his family in the post-fireworks crowd Monday night.

The lost boy was reported around 11 p.m. and was safely found in the vicinity by a Forest Lake Police Explorer Scout about 15 minutes later, the chief said.

Quiring said the department utilized 22 full-time and part-time officers during the parade Monday morning and had 15 officers work the 10 p.m. fireworks display. The city force was augmented by several Minnesota State Patrol Troopers who were on hand.

No official crowd estimates were made by city police this year, but Quiring said the fireworks crowd in the Lakeside Park area may have been larger than the parade crowd.

Other reports

Here is a brief summation of some police calls handled during the Independence Day weekend.

ï30 fireworks complaints.

ï16 domestic incidents.

ï19 property damage accidents.

ï3 complaints of loud music from the downtown business district.

ï12 underage consumption of alcohol and public consumption of alcohol tickets.

ï3 drunk driving tickets.

ï2 medical calls during the parade Monday morning.

Of the 19 accidents, the most serious came at 1:30 p.m. Saturday when three vehicles tangled on northbound I-35 just south of the US-8 exit. A boat and trailer blocked two lanes of I-35 plus the US-8 exit lane, resulting in northbound I-35 being shutdown for about 30 minutes.

The number of crashes did not surprise the chief. ìWhen you have that number of people in town, that is probably not uncommon,î Quiring said.

Top of Page

Forest Lake Times
P.O. Box 218
880 SW 15 St.
Forest Lake, MN 55025
651-464-4601
Fax 651-464-4605