In the early hours of 7 May 1985, volunteer Firefighter Pat Bobinski repeatedly challenged the severely flooded West channel to evacuate stranded residents. Alone, in total darkness, Pat Bobinsky paddled his canoe amid fast flowing ice floes and other debris in search of victims. Plucking people from their perches, he assisted them into the extra boat he had tied to the rear of his canoe. Time after time he braved the swirling water, until he had satisfied himself that all residents of the West Channel had been accounted for and evacuated.