By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
Crews responding this morning to a call about an upside down pontoon boat and an oar spotted in the Skookumchuck River in north Centralia found a man who was out of the water but prevented by thick brush from getting up the bank.
Two men from Centralia in two boats had apparently launched from the park off B Street and one of them overturned near there, according to Riverside Fire Authority.
The swift water carried his companion’s craft probably another three quarters of a mile downstream before he was able to get off the river, Assistant Chief Mike Kytta said.
The man, in his 50s, had gone into the water and was carried by the river underneath some branches and trees but got himself to the water’s edge, according to Kytta.
Firefighters had to clear a path through the berry vines and brush, Kytta said.
“He was tired and cold and they had to assist him up the bank,” Kytta said.
He was loaded into an ambulance by 11:10 a.m. and taken to Providence Centralia Hospital to be evaluated, according to the chief.