Colorado Parks & Wildlife honors Pueblo rangers for live-saving efforts

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) - On Wednesday, Colorado Parks & Wildlife awarded five Pueblo rangers for their life-saving efforts during several incidents that occurred in 2022 between May and October.

Officials said a record 41 people died in the state in water-related incidents in 2022, with eight of those deaths occurring at Lake Pueblo State Park. The rangers recognized by CPW saved over a dozen lives in that period.

“It’s part of the job, you know you’re going to have to do it, and it falls on different people at different times,” Joe Portteus, one of the rangers honored, said. “It just happened to be, you know, our shift, our time when we were on the water, and so we went and did what we were trying to do.”

Other rangers shared similar sentiments.

“In the moment, it didn’t seem like anything, you know, it was just part of the job, right? So like, these people need you and that’s what you’re there for, so you go to help them, they’re asking for your help, you provide the assistance,” former seasonal ranger Seth Herndon said.

CPW says that this is the first time in nine years that the commission is meeting in Colorado Springs.

According to CPW, commissioners awarded plaques to rangers that assisted in the following incidents:

• Pulled children out of the water when a boat overturned.
• Helped two women who got blown out on the lake while they were paddle boarding.
• Saved a couple and gave their 3-year-old mouth-to-mouth until a helicopter arrived.

Copyright 2023 KKTV. All rights reserved.