Two cling to wood in the middle of rushing Washington river after inner tubes pop

Inner tubes popped under two people floating in a rushing Washington river, rescuers said.

The two people were floating in the Columbia River on Monday, June 27, the Clark-Cowlitz Fire Rescue said. Their inner tubes popped, leaving them stranded in the river.

At about 10:20 p.m., rescuers were called to the scene. They found two people clinging to wood in the middle of the river.

“Both adults were wearing life jackets, were uninjured, and were clinging to a wood piling in the middle of the river - just inside the Multnomah Channel,” rescuers said in a news release.

Multiple rescuers rushed to help the struggling tubers. A fire boat arrived at the tubers’ location and rescuers pulled the people aboard, officials said.

“Fire Boat 24 accessed the subjects via the bow and assisted them aboard, without incident,” rescuers said. “A second pass was made to recover several personal belongings and the popped inner tubes.”

Both of the adults were out of the water and to a safe location about an hour after the call for help, officials said.

Rescuers said the incident could have been worse or fatal had the tubers not been wearing life jackets.

“Please ensure you and anybody you are responsible for are wearing the proper personal flotation device(s) while enjoying water activities,” officials said.

This story was originally published June 30, 2022 at 9:52 AM with the headline "Two cling to wood in the middle of rushing Washington river after inner tubes pop."