Vancouver Fire rescues boater, pet at Marine Park Boat Launch amid choppy conditions
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The Vancouver Fire Department rescued a boater and their pet dog when choppy conditions at the Marine Park Boat Launch made it untenable for them to return to the dock Tuesday evening, authorities said.
Around 6:30 p.m., Vancouver Fire responded to a report of the distressed boater who was “unable to get close enough to the dock to get off due to storm conditions and an unstable dock.”
The fire crew made contact with the man in the 32-foot sailboat partially tied to the “very unsteady dock,” tried to help him and his dog get down but the boat was too far away to do so safely.
After that, the fire department enlisted the use of a Fire Boat, at first attempting to use it to push the sailboat closer to the dock but the conditions on the water “did not allow this to happen.”
“A rescue swimmer was then deployed to the sailboat and was able to move the dog and the male subject to the Fire Boat,” in a highly technical maneuver, Vancouver Fire said in a release.
There were no injuries and “all parties and pets were reunited with their loved ones,” officials said.