courtesy photo
Law enforcement and rescue crews were called to two incidents Sunday on the Roaring Fork River after multiple rafts flipped and people needed help getting to safety.
Two with minor injuries were taken to Valley View Hospital in Glenwood Springs after three boats in a private group flipped on the section of the Roaring Fork River behind the Basalt 7-Eleven, Roaring Fork Fire and Rescue Battalion Chief Jason Hutter said.
There were nine boats in the private group, and three rafts flipped, and Roaring Fork Rescue was called out just after 1:20 p.m., he said. Three people were unaccounted for when rescuers arrived on scene. Two people were found immediately and the third a short time later by a good Samaritan along the river.
“We’re not sure how many people went in the water because the group was so large,” Hutter said. “But of the multiple people in the river most either self-rescued or were helped to safety.”
They did not have to put any rescue personnel in the water, he said. A man and woman were taken to the hospital and their injuries were non-life-threatening, he said, and the rest of the group went on down the river to their take-out spot.
Hutter said one of the boats was still in the river caught up on a strainer. They have the owner’s contact information and the dispatch center is aware of the overturned boat still in the river.
That was the second call of the day the fire crew worked Sunday.
They assisted Aspen Fire and other agencies on a report of a woman and man in the Roaring Fork River above Woody Creek. A husband and wife from Carbondale were floating river from Slaughterhouse when their raft flipped soon after they put in, Aspen Fire Deputy Chief Parker Lathrop said.
About 20 responders were stationed along the bridges downstream and had a staging area set up, but the woman self-rescued before getting to Woody Creek “and walked to a friend’s house,” Lathrop said.
“Luckily, this was just a really good exercise for us, and we had a good response,” he said.
