Near drowning prompts Port to inspect coal dock ladders

In the wake of a near drowning off Coal Dock Park, Port Washington officials are implementing a plan to inspect the ladders that reach into the water.

“We were unaware there were any rungs that were not fully intact,” Public Works Director Rob Vanden Noven said. “We are now.

“Given the knowledge one of the rungs broke, we will make it an annual inspection.”

The first inspection will be done this summer, he added.

On July 16, Jameco King Jr. of Saukville was fishing with some friends when he climbed down one of the ladders to net a fish. After he handed the fish off to his friend, King said, he started to climb back up when the ladder gave way and he fell into the deep, turbulent water below.

Ben Kasdorf, a former city lifeguard, was skateboarding with his dog when he saw King in the water and jumped in. 

“The kid was struggling,” Kasdorf told Ozaukee Press. “He was clearly drowning.”

He pulled King up and toward the wall, then tread water with him. Kasdorf, who had begun to tire, called for help and Jude Brobst, a member of the Cedarburg High School dive team, jumped in to help him support King.

A short time later, police arrived and threw a life preserver and rescue disc into the water. And not long after that, the fire department arrived and hooked a ladder to the railing. The three teens then climbed up on their own.

Vanden Noven said the city was unaware of any issues with the ladders until the incident.

The ladders were in place when the city created Coal Dock Park, he said, and the city welded any defective ones at that time. A few additional ladders may have been installed by the city as well, he said.

Vanden Noven said he does not believe responsibility for the ladders is spelled out in the city’s agreements with We Energies, which owns the parkland that the city leases for the park.

“The city will take the responsibility to improve the existing ladders,” he said.