District of North Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services responded to three rescue calls in three days at the same location - a section of the Sea to Sky trail that typically never requires first responders' attention.
Dogs and humans alike found themselves in over their heads about 500 metres from the trailhead at Inter River Park Saturday afternoon when an off-leash dog fell more than six metres down a cliff ledge."Apparently the dog was running around and basically ran over the cliff and landed on the ledge below. It was stuck there and couldn't go up or down," said assistant chief Jim Bonneville.
The crew set up a technical rope rescue, allowing one member to rappel down to the dog where he expected a short struggle to get the dog into a harness.
"The dog actually leapt into his arms as soon as he got there," Bonneville said.
Barely 24 hours later, district crews were back at the same spot for a far more high-risk rescue when a woman tried to save her dog after it was swept down.
"She had the wits about her to push herself up onto the logjam as she got swept towards it. Extremely, extremely dangerous as you can imagine," he said, noting the fast flowing water that rushes underneath logjams. "You get in that and you're finished because the pressure of the water just holds you in."
Crews rescued the "cold but not hypothermic" woman and her dog using an inflatable boat tethered to the shore and guided by firefighters.
While the dogs being off-leash was the precipitating factor in both rescues, Bonneville said it's not realistic to ask dog walkers to keep their canines tethered in the area.
"You could say dogs should be on leashes but it ain't going to happen. It's a big open forested walking area," he said. "Instead, keep your dogs away from swollen rivers. Dogs make bad judgments too."
Firefighters were right back to the same location again on Monday afternoon after a woman slipped on the damp boardwalk and suffered a compound fracture in her ankle. She had to be carried out on a stretcher, bringing an end to the odd trilogy.
"We never go there. It's bizarre," Bonneville said.
District of West Vancouver firefightesr, meanwhile, are proving to be fishermen’s friends.
Fire and rescue crews from both West Vancouver and the District of North Vancouver convened at a familiar spot Oct. 17 evening to safely evacuate a group of fishermen stranded on a small island in the Capilano River under the Upper Levels Highway.
After a day of fishing (and no catches) the four men noticed around 7:30 p.m. the river’s water was rising and rushing faster. One of the men managed to wade out on his own but was nearly swept down river.
“He was OK and the other three decided, probably quite wisely, to stay put and call for help,” said assistant West Vancouver fire chief Martin Ernst.
On route to the call, firefighters called Metro Vancouver and asked them to stem the flow of water coming from the Cleveland Dam in hopes it would calm the Capilano. But they were told it could take up to five hours.
“That was a little too long for our fisherman so what we did is send a swift water team all suited up and protected in drysuits and helmets and life preserver. They were able to traverse their way across the section that separated the shore from the island,” Ernst said.
Rescuers got the stranded anglers into similar gear and escorted them back across. The whole rescue took about one hour.
Firefighters performed a similar rescue at the same spot on Sept. 26. In that case, anglers resumed fishing from the bank as soon as they were safely across.
“In the past we’ve dealt with fishermen who’ve been stuck on the island and sometimes we get a bit of an attitude. ‘We weren’t in trouble. We’re fine.’ These three were definitely thankful to be out of a situation that could have gotten worse for them, for sure,” he said.
While it’s easy to wade to the island when the water is low, it can quickly become dangerous.
“Our hope is they spread the word. Keep a head on a swivel when you’re out there and make sure you’re aware of changing conditions,” he said. “We don’t stand a chance when the river starts to run. You can’t swim out of that.”
