Quesnel Search and Rescue save two paddlers in the Bowron Lake Chain

A pair of paddlers was rescued near the ‘chutes’ in the Bowron Lake Chain on Tuesday, June 23.

Bob Holowenko, Vice-President of Quesnel Search and Rescue, says that teams got a call around noon that two paddlers had capsized their canoe in the Isaac River area of the Bowron Lake Chain.

He says both individuals had made it to land, but had been separated because of the high water. One was isolated on an island that had been created from high-water debris, and the other was located on the opposite bank of the river.

“In this situation, a swiftwater rescue was the original plan; however, once we were able to get more intel, it became clear that that would not be the safest option,” says Holowenko.

“The management team decided to instead deploy the Class D Fixed Line team, which people might have heard called a ‘long-line.’ We used a long-line helicopter service out of Prince George with the help of the Prince George Search and Rescue team. Between the whole group of us, we coordinated to safely extract these two paddlers from the chain.”

Holowenko says that the paddlers were both uninjured and had to be removed from the park and area because, unfortunately, their canoe and gear were unable to be rescued as well.

This incident was the second call for rescue that Quesnel Search and Rescue had in the Bowron Chain area in the last three days. However, in both incidents, the paddlers were all capable, and their level of readiness was “perfect for the area”.

“This particular corner of the park is where we have seen the majority of our rescues over the last few years,” says Holowenko. “We are up to around nine tasks in five years in this corner alone. This incident is purely looking like it’s related to the high water conditions and people getting caught out in the technical parts of the rapids where the high water catches most unawares.”

Holowenko added that a major factor in the incident’s success, and the one previously, was that both parties were using the SOS beacons and satellite-based messaging systems. These systems have been pivotal in alerting the RCMP, Park Rangers, and Search and Rescue teams, which, according to Holowenko, has allowed them to coordinate and work together quickly to get the rescues safely returned.