Family rescued on Priest River

PRIEST RIVER — A family floating the Priest River last week avoided tragedy by being properly equipped and knowing their limits, according the Priest Lake Search & Rescue officials.

The group of six embarked on the river above Eight Mile Rapids on Wednesday. A family patriarch made it through the rapids and waited below the set of rapids for the rest of the group.

“When he got to the base of the rapids, no one else showed up. So, of course, his worst fears kicked in,” said Karen Dingerson, an assistant team leader and board member for the volunteer search-and-rescue group.

The man was able to alert authorities with a mobile phone, which triggered a search for the rest of the paddlers. Dingerson said they were found just above the rapids, but stranded by thick brush.

Parents in the group, which included three children between the ages of 2 and 8, pulled to the side of the river after determining that the obstacle was likely too dangerous to safely navigate, said Dingerson.

“The rapids at that particular time was about a Class III,” said Dingerson.

Class III rapids are marked by high, irregular waves and narrow passages that can require precise maneuvering.

“Fortunately, those parents were smart enough to pull everybody over and they likely saved the lives of those children,” Dingerson said.

Dingerson added that everybody was wearing life jackets and had proper footwear.

The river rescue occurred a couple of weeks after a 43-year-old Washington state man drowned in the Priest River near Binarch Rapids. The man was in a discount store raft and had no life jacket.

“This was the second river search and rescue that we had in a two-week period. The first one ended in tragedy,” Dingerson said.

Dingerson lives along the river. As she spoke, she reported seeing six children float by in discount store tubes without life jackets.

“Families need to be aware of the quality of their equipment as well as the need to have life preservers, especially for children,” she said.