By Greg Welter
The Chico Enterprise-Record
CHICO, Calif. — An impromptu float on the Sacramento River Saturday attracted up to 5,000 people and resulted in banks littered with debris, at least two serious injuries and several rescues.
The event, months earlier than traditional river floats, was reportedly promoted on Facebook and Twitter through postings allegedly placed by an organization called Top Shelf.
A search for the organization Monday failed to produce contact information or anything indicating Top Shelf was taking credit for the gathering. Officials reported finding participants who traveled to Butte County from as far away as Arizona and Southern California and said most were from out of town.
Authorities said some participants referred to it as the “May Day Float.”
Most of the tubers entered the river at Irvine Finch State Recreation Area under Highway 32 and floated toward an area known as beer can beach, where a disc jockey was set up.
At one point, Glenn County Sheriff Larry Jones said there were so many tubers trying to enter the water at Irvine Finch that boat launches had to be diverted south to Pine Creek and Scotty’s Landing.
Scotty’s owner John Scott said others put in near his business and tried to paddle north. “It was obvious they weren’t familiar with the river and didn’t know where they were going,” Scott said.
He noted that trying to move against the current may have helped some of the participants remain sober.
He said the wind Saturday was probably more responsible for debris left behind than carelessness. “When people pulled their tubes onto the sand bar, mostly of them just blew back into the river,” he said.
Stranded tubers relied on boats from private parties and sheriff’s patrols to get back to shore, which Scott said accounted for a lot of the rescue reports.
Other rescues were more serious, however, as tubers got caught in currents or on snags.
Cal Fire Capt. Scott McLean, who responded to the river, said the water temperature at around 49 degrees also contributed to the number of emergencies, including 16 medical calls.
One female reportedly suffered an alcohol overdose and was taken by ambulance to Enloe Medical Center. Another sustained a traumatic head injury and was transported to Enloe by helicopter. The names of the victims weren’t available Monday.
McLean said Cal Fire didn’t know about the float until Saturday morning, when it got a call for assistance from the Butte County Sheriff’s Office.
“I’m very surprised no one died,” McLean said, adding that his crew was constantly busy with emergencies from the moment it arrived.
Glenn County sheriff’s deputies made two arrests. One was a woman found to have a blood alcohol level more than three times the legal limit to drive. She was identified as Kristen Casteel, 20, of Chico.
The second arrest was made after a life-saving rescue, said Jones. Deputies from his boating unit said they noticed Chico resident Trent Smith, 20, floundering in the water after getting separated from his tube.
“Due to his level of intoxication, he was unable to keep his head above water,” Jones said.
The man was pulled from the water, transported to a local hospital for evaluation, then arrested for public intoxication. His blood alcohol level was also more than three times the legal limit to drive.
Jones said the incident would have certainly become a body recovery if deputies hadn’t seen him in the water.
Jones said his department decided to have a boat and crew on the river Saturday after seeing the float promoted on Facebook.
“We knew something was coming but didn’t know how big it would be,” said sheriff’s Lt. Phil Revolinsky.
A few fights were reported, but both Jones and Scott said most of the participants were polite, and thanked officials for their advice.
On Monday morning Chico resident Mike Pickering was on the river preparing to bow hunt for turkeys when he found the banks and sand bars littered with abandoned tubes and beer cans.
He said he picked up as many of the tubes as his boat would hold and brought them to shore, where rangers with California State Parks were collecting them for disposal.
Pickering said he supports an effort to sell abandoned tubes to fund a river cleanup effort after float events.
Copyright 2010 MediaNews Group, Inc. and ANG Newspapers