Hummer sinks at McDonald Lake, occupants safe

By Karen Peterson / Leader Staff

ST. IGNATIUS — A joyride on a sunny midmorning Monday turned into a frantic call for help. At McDonald Lake, a woman and her 10-year-old son attempted to cross the canal in a full sized Hummer, the Lake County Sheriff's Department reported. The attempt failed.

"She didn't realize how deep it was and she ended up sinking clear up to the hood [of the vehicle]," Lake County Sheriff's Department Deputy Lance Ewers said. Ewers said the woman and her son were having fun driving around on a country road when she took a wrong turn and the vehicle became stuck. The woman made a 911 call from her cell phone. From that call, it was originally thought that she had fallen into McDonald Lake, Ewers said. In fact, the woman's vehicle had sunk in the canal. Local firefighters and Search and Rescue members responded to the emergency call, in addition to the Sanders County Sheriff's Department.

"No one was injured or wet. They managed to get out of the truck uninjured," Ewers said.

At first glance, the canal wouldn't have appeared to be of great depth. But what lay under the canal proved to be disastrous.

"The canal is three to four feet deep. With the mud factor, it goes down another two feet. The mud is what made it too deep," Ewers said. "You defiantly need four wheel drive to get up there, but I don't think that even a tank could have crossed that."

A tow truck was called in to pull the Hummer out of the mud.

"The Hummer was sunk but everyone was okay," he said.