Sgt. Kolby Call presented with “Life Saving Award” for actions at Alexander

On Monday, Caribou County Deputy Kolby Call was honored during the County Commissioners meeting with a “Life Saving Award” recognizing his heroism on March 8, when he responded to an emergency call at Alexander reservoir.  Through his actions, Call was able to save the life of one of the individuals who had fallen through the ice, and provide a fighting chance to the other, who ultimately passed away as a result of the incident.  Sheriff Mabey spoke to the commissioners about Deputy Call, and read from his official commendation.  Call’s family was able to be in attendance for the presentation.

Sherffi Mabey stated, “Sometimes we have events happen which don't necessarily turn out with the best end, mainly because of the way things are written in the in the sand, so to speak. And we recently had an incident which was a sad incident, but it was a happy incident at the same time. And the reason we got the happy part was because of the actions of one of the Caribou County Sheriff's Office deputies who stepped up and saw a problem, moved forward, and dealt with it. 

Sheriff Mabey thanked and congratulated Call for his heroism and service.

A lot of times we hear about “defunding the police”, but if we don't have individuals like members of the Sheriff’s Office around, things could be a lot worse.  And this morning I want to recognize one of those deputies that works for the county, deputy
Kolby Call. 

We had an incident where two individuals fell through the ice out at Alexander Reservoir on March 8.  The ice was receding fast. They were visiting our county, didn't necessarily know that the dangers that were involved, and they found themselves in a bad situation. 

Sergeant Call was the first responder to get on scene, and acted immediately.  His actions, in my belief, saved an individual's life that day, a very selfless act by Sergeant Call.  So I am going to award Sergeant Call this morning a Life Saving award and I'm going to read you the citation of commendation in regards to that.” 

Speaking to the commissioners and public, Sheriff Mabey addressed his comments to Kolby Call himself, as follows:

“On Sunday, March 8, 2026, you responded to a high priority call regarding an individual who had fallen through the ice on Alexander reservoir. Upon your arrival, you observed a person approximately 200 feet off the shoreline, struggling in freezing water, unable to extricate themselves and suffering from immediate effects of hypothermia. Recognizing the victim’s strength was failing and emergency medical services were still minutes away, you made that the decision to act immediately with a complete disregard for personal safety. You transitioned onto the unstable ice to reach the victim.  Realizing that the anchor rope you had originally deployed was not long enough, you crossed that unstable ice and obtained more rope. 

You again immediately transitioned off the ice and quickly moved to where the victim was located.  As the victim appeared to be losing consciousness, you learned there was a second person in the water.  You then wrapped the safety line, which was in use to protect yourself, around the first victim. You then supervised the removal of the first victim from the ice to safety on shore. Back on shore with the information about the second victim, and realizing the necessity to move quickly, knowing that other trained by personnel were still a long way out from the scene, you responded to the Caribou county sheriff's office to get dive gear. 

You immediately returned to the scene of the accident and geared up in dive equipment. Again, you transitioned onto to the unstable ice to reach the second victim who was still in the water. Before reaching the hole the victim had gone through, the ice gave out under your weight.  You went into the water, losing some of your own protective gear in the process.

The loss of equipment did not deter your perseverance to locate and rescue the second victim.  After getting a safety spotter to your location on a stable kayak, you continued to search for the second victim. The second victim was located several feet from the original opening just under the ice.  Between you hammer punching through the ice with your fists, and the spotter chipping away with an oar, you got to the victim and were able to use safety rope to tie onto the victim, got her out of the water and off the ice. 

The victim was then pulled across the ice to the shore and emergency treatment.

Your swift response, decisive action and exceptional bravery under extreme conditions, directly resulted in the preservation of human life and the rescue of a second victim, who unfortunately could not be revived by medical personnel. 

Knowing the fact that an individual's life expectancy could be enhanced through quick, cold water rescue, your decisive even quick actions gave a second victim a better chance of recovery, which would normally not have been the case. 

Your conduct during the incident exemplifies the highest standard of the Caribou County Sheriff's office, your unselfish actions reflect very great credit upon yourself, Caribou County, and the law enforcement profession, and it is an honor to presents you with a Life Saving award as a token of the Caribou County sheriff's office, the board of the county commissioners, and the community's deep appreciation for yourself as your selfless service, sergeant.”

Sheriff Mabey then presented Sergeant Call with the Life Saving plaque and uniform bars.

On behalf of the county, Chairman Mark Mathews stated,  “Thank you, Kolby, for your service and your willingness to support the community, and for everything you do on our behalf.  You don't often get the pats on the back you deserve, but it looks like you have three or four cheerleaders with you and they're blessed to have such a role model as a father.  Thank you for your service.” 

“Thank you,” Call said.   “In law enforcement we’re trained to run towards danger.  I believe every one of my colleagues would have done the same thing—I was just the first one there. In law enforcement I've always said it's more of a calling when we go into it. We don't go into it for money obviously. But we go into for the service of our community.  I'm proud of the office that I work for, and I'm proud of the colleagues that I have, because I do know they would have done the same I did that day.  In hindsight, I want to say it was amazing coming out of the water and looking back to shore at all of our emergency personnel that were on the scene that day.  I wish I could take a picture of that and show it to you guys.  We had ambulance personnel, we had Search and Rescue, we had Sheriff’s Office, Soda Springs Police Department, we had Life Flight—it was an amazing view from my perspective. and I'm proud of where we live because a lot of them are volunteers.”

Although she was not present, the Sheriff also explained the critical importance of how dispatcher Sheri Allen Rider handled the call, alongside a simultaneous injury accident, in a way that allowed both situations to be responded to with maximum speed and accuracy.