SHELBY COUNTY, KY (WAVE) – A firefighter was injured while he was helping rescue a man who got stuck in a pay lake drain Thursday evening.
According to Simpsonville Fire Chief Ronnie Sowder, around 8 p.m. the man was in a kayak trying to clear debris from a pipe in Tapp’s Pay Lake, located at 8741 Shelbyville Road.
When the pipe came unclogged the suction caused the man to get stuck in the drain.
Water rescue teams were able to get the man out of the lake but the firefighter was injured in the process.
The firefighter was taken to Jewish Hospital in Shelbyville with foot injuries.
The kayaker was taken to University of Louisville Hospital and is expected to be ok.
Curt Isakson is a 35 year veteran of the fire service. Curt is currently a Battalion Chief for Escambia County Fire Rescue. Previously worked 9 years with the Pensacola Fire Department where he was assigned as the Company Officer on Rescue 31. Curt’s fire service experiences started at a young age as a Junior firefighter with the Midway Fire Protection District and rose through the ranks to Captain. He has worked in volunteer, career, and combination departments.
Curt has held all ranks up to Battalion Chief and been assigned to operations, training, inspections, and was Chief of Special Operations for 7 years. Curt owns and operates County Fire Tactics that covers a very diverse range of fire service topics, as well as Firefighter Rescues, a site that documents rescues made by firefighters around the country.
He has annual contracts with numerous departments to provide standardized monthly training for these departments that respond daily together under an automatic aid agreement. Curt teaches nationally to include; FDIC, Firehouse Expo, Firehouse World, Orlando Fire Conference, Atlanta Fire Conference, Bowling Green State University, and owns/operates the annual HROC, COBC, WOTF, CFT ODP on Pensacola Beach. He is a Florida Certified Fire Officer, Instructor, Inspector, Arson, and FLUSAR.
