District of North Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services members had to pull off a swift water rescue Tuesday afternoon after two men became stranded in the Capilano River.
They had launched an inflatable raft in calm water near the Capilano Hatchery but quickly found themselves in rapids and their boat went topside, according to Walt Warner, assistant fire chief.
“Obviously the raft they were on was recreational. It wasn’t suitable for the environment they were in and they capsized on some of the rapids that were there,” he said.
One of the men made it the canyon’s edge. The other one found himself slightly banged up and stuck on a rock mid-river.
They were able to get a 911 call out but because they were down in the canyon, they had poor reception. District fire and rescue members called in North Shore Rescue and a Talon helicopter to help spot the marooned men from the air. They were beneath the Pipeline Trail bridge, just north of Camp Capilano.
With no easy access to the river from the shore, rescuers lowered themselves down from the bridge along with a rescue raft, and paddled over to the men to get them in proper harnesses, helmets and personal floatation devices before hoisting them back up to the top of the bridge.
“Here’s the deal. We’re here to help and they made the right decision by calling 911 and staying relatively safe while doing so and not trying to commence a rescue by themselves and putting themselves in more danger,” Warner said.
The men were visiting the North Shore and had little local knowledge about the Capilano, Warner added, which didn’t help.
