A Red Deer Emergency Services rescue fan boat tends to an overturned raft on the Red Deer River Saturday afternoon. (Ryan James Wuchterl)

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

common sense

Several people rescued on Red Deer River Saturday afternoon

Jul 11, 2020 | 6:42 PM

Red Deer Emergency Services is issuing a stern warning about river safety after multiple distress calls from people floating down the Red Deer River.

Deputy Chief Chris Kearns says the first call came in around 3:45 p.m. Saturday.

“A party of 11 river rafters became entangled with a bridge abutment near Gaetz Avenue and required to be rescued. Red Deer City Emergency Services assisted in the rescue and deployed a watercraft,” the City clarified in a release later Saturday evening. “Seven rafters were located on one side of the river, and three were on the other side. The eleventh person was located down river.”

Of the 11 people, nine were adults and two were youth. No one was seriously injured and none were wearing life jackets or floatation devices, according to Kearns.

A second incident occurred as the first was wrapping up ar around 4:15. Two more rafters overturned under the same bridge, Kearns says.

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“The water is really high and it’s flowing pretty fast right now. We would like to discourage people from being on the water until the high water levels recede,” says Kearns. “As well, we’d like to remind the public to wear life jackets or personal floatation devices.”

Over the last three days, the Red Deer River at Red Deer has hovered around 3.3 to 3.6 metres, the highest level it has hit since late May, according to Rivers.Alberta.ca.

“One of the fellows involved who I spoke to afterwards said that he’s a pretty strong swimmer, but that he was surprised by the swiftness of the current and that he was pretty afraid,” Kearns shares. “Initially it was unclear how many people were in the water and whether or not everybody was safe, then we found others on the opposite shoreline who’d been swept downstream.”

Kearns says the event tied up a number of resources, which could have hampered response times to other emergencies such as fires.

He tells rdnewsNOW that the department received another distress call from the river shortly after crews had left the area, and that surrounding jurisdictions also took multiple calls today.

If you are in distress and are able, or if you witness someone in distress on the river, call 911.

Kearns thanked the RCMP, as well as members of the public on land and water who assisted with the incidents on Saturday.