You hate to need it, but it’s good to have

Community leaders gathered June 20, at Rocque Ridge Guides & Outfitters in Holcombe, to discuss installing a proper helicopter landing pad for medical emergencies. The grassy site is currently used for such a thing, but is uneven, which raises some safety concerns. Photo by Ginna Young

By Ginna Young

No one wants to see a medical helicopter circling the area, but as time goes on, it’s happening more and more frequently, as accidents are on the rise. Realizing this, Tom Rocque, owner of Rocque Ridge Guides & Outfitters in Holcombe, wanted to do something to help out the emergency services.

The open green space behind the Rocque Ridge building is ideal for a landing zone – except for being uneven. With that in mind, Rocque put a question out to the community on Facebook, with unexpected response. His original goal was simply to borrow a skidsteer, but Rocque got so much more.

“All I truly wanted to do, was to flatten a spot out, but you all stepped up, and wanted to do that or better,” said Rocque June 20, at a community meeting.

Since Rocque bought the property, his intention has always been to put a large turnaround driveway in for trucks with boats and trailers to easily pull through.

“Now that all this interest came up, you’ve given me a deadline,” said Rocque, adding that the turnaround will be at the cost of the business.

Ideally, Life Link, which answers the majority of airlift calls, would like to see a 70’x70’ landing pad, set inside a 100’x100’ obstruction-free zone to land in. Rocque already measured out the 100x100 and 60’x60’ spots, but was willing to increase it to 70x70, as well as an 8-foot walkway to transport the gurney on, to the helicopter.

“Life Link has been really cool throughout this,” said Rocque. “They’re not requiring anything of us.”

This will be the last year for the fireworks tent that normally sits near the proposed landing zone, so after this summer, there will be no obstruction blocking the helicopter’s path.

Rocque has been in contact with Ntera, for advice, because he wants to set up the same deal they have for their utility buildings, which fall under a 99-year lease agreement with property owners. With the lease, if the property sells, the new owner has to abide by that 99-year lease.

Rocque is also working on constructing an agreement with the Cornell Area Fire Department, Sheldon Fire Department, Cornell Area Ambulance Service and the Rusk County Ambulance Service.

“Any of those jurisdictions will have equal property rights to this and can come here,” he said.

Although he has not looked into state approval or anything like that, Rocque did find out that no insurance is needed, since it is covered under Life Link or Mayo’s insurance.

“There should never be any legal issues,” said Rocque.

A time frame for completion of the landing pad will depend on what the community decides on, but Rocque says the sooner it happens, the better. Right now, the medical chopper can land any time of day or night at Rocque Ridge (with the exception of the week the fireworks tent is in operation), but summertime is when it gets used the most, as there are more accidents and the area has its highest population.

“Unfortunately, we’ve been using them (landing pads) a lot lately,” said Rocque.

With the official addition of the landing zone at Rocque Ridge, that would make No. 8 in the area, and with Robin Stender, Cornell Area Ambulance Service director, working to get one at the Cornell Highway Department Shop, that will make nine.

“We have them all over the fire district, so that it’s quicker to wherever the incident is,” said Cornell Fire Chief Matt Boulding.

When a call comes in, and it’s a trauma or something major, Life Link personnel are already climbing into the chopper, before firefighter pagers go off. Many times, because of how fast the helicopter can fly, the air unit is hovering over the accident site before the fire department even has a victim extricated from a car.

“Having them (landing zone) in different areas is a good idea, because if they’re hovering over waiting, then we gotta drive seven-eight miles back, that’s all time,” said Rocque.

The fire department can shut down the highway, but that’s not ideal, as people are on their phones trying to document the crash and not paying attention to their driving. A detour also has to be set up and firefighters are pulled away from the scene to direct traffic.

“You’re creating a much bigger hazard,” said Rocque.

Thankfully, there is another landing zone at the Holcombe United Methodist Church parking lot. Efforts are ongoing to repave the lot to make it smoother for rescue efforts.

“That project is going to go on,” said David Staudacher.

Everyone present at the meeting agreed there needs to be more than one landing site, especially if they’re in opposite directions.

“They both serve some strategic areas,” said Staudacher.

Rocque said there’s been some private discussion about whether crushed granite should be used with Quikrete to hold it together and have less dust – which could be a lot cheaper – or to use blacktop or concrete. So far, he hasn’t done any pricing and was waiting to hear what everyone thought.

“Who’s going to organize the construction phase and I guess, be the go-to person?” asked Patrick Viergutz, Lake Holcombe Improvement Association. “Is that going to be you?”

Rocque says he would be willing to do that, he just needs direction on which way to go, while Ryan Hartzell, Ntera, suggested getting the easement done first. Rocque said he will do the landing pad maintenance, if needed, but some have talked about donating specifically for that part of the project. A private citizen did volunteer to organize fundraisers for that, if it is needed.

“I’m not touching any of your money,” said Rocque. “At the end of the day, it’s not my project, it’s your project. Whatever the community comes up with, whatever we want to do, as much or as little, is all appreciated.”

To be in charge of the money side of things, as a 501(c)(3) non-profit, the Lake Holcombe Resort & Business Association (LHRBA) agreed to handle the finances and set up an account at Citizens State Bank in Cornell. Anyone who wants to donate, can make checks payable to: Lake Holcombe Resort & Business Association, ATTN: Helicopter Landing Pad. Tony Fasbender, LHRBA member, says his organization understands the pad will need to be plowed to keep the space clear.

“We really need to look at construction that is going to handle that,” said Fasbender.

Rocque had already thought of that, which is one reason he made the walkway eight feet, so he can make one pass with his plow truck to clear it. However, if it’s heavily snowing, the helicopter probably won’t come, so the community wouldn’t have to keep the zone clear during the storm, just when it was all done snowing.

Staudacher mentioned that the church’s parking lot is regularly plowed.

“So, you’ll have that option,” he said. Rocque says that with the site on his property, which borders the Chippewa and Rusk county lines, the pilot can enter the coordinates in their GPS system to know where to land. Currently, the pilot has to “go by sight” until they see emergency lights. It’s also a big help with a designated landing zone, so the pilot does not have to survey the area to make sure there are no power lines or obstacles to prevent landing.

“It’s certified and they know that it’s good to go,” said Rocque.

Donations of labor and equipment have already come in, but estimates are needed to see what overall costs will be.

Resident/school board member Jamie Tester-Morfoot says she has seen the amazing things the surrounding communities can do, when called upon, so raising the money should not be an issue.

“If you give us a goal, we hit the goal,” said Morfoot.

Those present agreed they want to do the project right the first time around and to make the landing pad 70x70. They also agreed a committee, made up of several interested parties at the meeting, is needed to make the final decisions and keep everything on track.

While there’s no firm time frame and no estimate of cost as of yet, everyone was happy with the project getting off the ground to help with safety and accessibility, when a landing zone needs to be utilized.

“I’m a little in shock with how far this has gotten already,” said Rocque.