Abby Nadeau
Staff Writer

At approximately 6:20 p.m. on Wednesday, August 1 Scandia Fire and Rescue was called to assist the Minneapolis Police and Fire Departments in one of the most horrific disasters in Minnesota history.

Fire Chief Steve Spence and First Deputy Chief Jim Finnegan, along with three other firefighters and two divers, assisted workers in the recovery mission.

The group was stationed north of bridge, near the lock and dam, on the banks and in the Mississippi River.

Finnegan said as the two divers searched for cars and any bodies in the water, the remaining five people were used as shore support.

He said the divers were pulled out of the river by 11 p.m. because of growing currents.

“The current wanted to keep pushing them into the bridge material that was in the river,” Finnegan said. “It was a pretty dangerous operation.”

He said the whole situation was “an unbelieveable site, very, very surreal.”

As of 1 p.m. on Thursday Finnegan had not received another call to return to the site.

He said that a structural engineer was expected to asses the best way to start taking the concrete and cars out of the river.

He also commended the Minneapolis departments for their work.

“The Minneapolis departments did a really good job, they had a good game plan,” Finnegan said. “They were very well prepared for a major incident like this.”

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