Close call-decisive action link two Airmen to bridge collapse

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Jeff Williams
  • 934 AW Public Affairs
Minneapolis St. Paul --  On a hot, 91 degree August evening, Senior Master Sgt. Jeffrey Imsdahl, 934th Security Forces Squadron superintendent, left his civilian job in Minneapolis for a routine drive home. 
 
His windows were down as he drove across Washington Avenue to the Interstate 35W northbound on-ramp. He watched the construction workers on the opposite side as he crossed the Mississippi River.
 Halfway across the bridge, Sergeant Imsdahl thought something serious was wrong with his vehicle. His vehicle was bouncing. Thinking he needed to replace the shocks, he noticed the van in front of him was bouncing too. 

 "I thought he had bad shocks too," the sergeant said, recounting his Aug. 1 experience. "By the time I got across the bridge, I saw a truck on the side of the road that was apparently overheating. About a mile later, I noticed there were only three or four cars behind me, and I didn't have any more problems with my shocks. I was amazed that the traffic was really light." 

 It wasn't until he returned to his Maplewood home that he heard about the I-35W bridge collapse. 

 "Everything suddenly hit me. I said to myself, 'You can breathe easy now because you just got lucky.' I didn't see or hear anything. It was a total fluke for me to be there. I usually don't work that late. I figure I must have missed it by less than a minute," Sergeant Imsdahl said.
Others weren't so lucky. When the I-35W bridge collapsed at 6:05 p.m. Aug. 1, over 100 people were injured and 13 motorists lost their lives. 
 
While Sergeant Imsdahl was heading home, squadron-mate Tech. Sgt. Jeffrey Grates, who serves as a Detention Deputy for the Hennepin County Sheriff's Department, was also heading home from his civilian job in Minneapolis.
 Sergeant Grates was driving his bicycle over the Stone Arch Bridge to his vehicle on the north side of the river, when he heard an excited voice on the overhead speakers at the Lower St. Anthony Falls lockmaster area. While he heard the voice, he couldn't make out the words. Then he heard sirens and began to see emergency vehicles approach the area from various different directions. 

Upon reaching his vehicle, Sergeant Grates called back to the jail and was informed as to what happened.
 "Sensing that help may be needed, I went to the area and met up with Minneapolis Police Sergeant Bill Chaplin. I explained to Sergeant Chaplin that I was a member of the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office and offered my assistance," Sergeant Grates said.
During his time at the incident scene, Sergeant Grates was responsible for establishing a perimeter, assisting Minneapolis Police Department officers, and helping load deceased victims into the coroner's vehicle. He was on-duty at the scene from 6:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., when he was relieved as rescue crews were finishing their duties for the evening. 

 "When you have people walking around and on bikes, all with cell phones at their ears, we needed to establish a perimeter and call for reinforcement," Sergeant Grates said. "It was all about keeping crowds away so people could do their jobs. We would move 30 people out and 30 more would move back in. People were even crossing the police tape. In doing air base defense, it's all about managing the perimeter. If you can't do it, you need to get some more help. That's one of the things I did that night."
 The next week was quite chaotic as he went back to work at the jail. He pulled a lot of overtime in order to back fill the licensed deputies who worked entry control areas at the site. 
 
In an email to Col. Tim Tarchick, 934th Airlift Wing commander, Sergeant Grates' supervisor, Detention Sergeant Brad Laudert, wrote, "I have concluded that Jeff's training and experience with your organization helped enable him to make sound professional decisions during an extremely chaotic event.  I believe that Jeff's actions positively affected the safety, security, and integrity of the accident site, thus allowing other first responders to accomplish their immediate goals of victim rescue at the scene." 

"Sergeant Grates' quick thinking and decisive actions clearly show his knowledge, skills and genuine concern for helping others in a time of crisis, said Colonel Tarchick. "When I heard of his actions, I was proud but not surprised. Sergeant Grates is an example of the extraordinary people we have in the 934th Airlift Wing and the Air Force Reserve living in the community and doing great things."
For his actions, he was awarded two pins from the Hennepin County Sheriff's Department, one was the rescue pin and the other was a 35W bridge first responder pin. He was also given a commendation from Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek. 

In retrospect, Sergeant Grates said, "I didn't do anything more than anyone else in my department. Everybody on the department wanted to help."
Sergeant Imsdahl reflected, "If I used one of my nine lives, that's great. This is probably one of a thousand different stories out there. I'm glad it wasn't me, but I do feel sorry for those who weren't as lucky."