By Sean Longoria
The Record Searchlight
REDDING, Calif. — Seven people were rescued Tuesday by Shasta County sheriff’s deputies, Redding firefighters and some fishermen after a canoe tipped over on the Sacramento River in south Redding.
Just after 3 p.m., dispatchers reported a canoe tipped on the river approaching the Wyndham Ripple, an area of the river off Riverview Drive between Cypress Avenue and South Bonnyview Road.
Amber Griffin, one of the boaters, said the canoe carrying three was traveling downriver with a pair of two-person rafts when the canoe capsized. Griffin was boating with six others, including her husband, Jason, her daughter, her husband’s brothers and family friends, she said.
“We’ve done it before,” Griffin said of canoeing and rafting. “It just caught us off guard. We were not ready. ... The rapids were too strong, the canoe was too heavy, and it just tipped it.”
The rafts didn’t overturn, Griffin said, and Jason Griffin and Robert Vinkler swam to a nearby island. Two fishermen helped them as firefighters and sheriff’s boating safety crews arrived.
“They almost went in themselves,” she said of the fishermen. “I wish I could thank them. They were a godsend to be there.”
Firefighters and deputies took Vinkler and Jason Griffin out of the river behind Riverview Drive homes. The third was taken to the Bonnyview Boat Ramp, while four others went to the Posse Grounds Boat Ramp near Turtle Bay Exploration Park.
“Thank God for how many people were out there,” Amber Griffin said. “People are just wonderful; thank you.”
The group of seven was reunited just before 5 p.m. at the Posse Grounds Boat Ramp. They were shaken up, all thankful to have made it safely through the ordeal, Amber Griffin said. An unidentified man was taken to a hospital for symptoms of hypothermia.
“Everybody is accounted for,” said sheriff’s Lt. Mark Lillibridge after dropping off the seventh member of the group.
The only loss was a set of bongo drums and a guitar, Lillibridge said, and no one appeared to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
Copyright 2012 Record Searchlight
All Rights Reserved