Updated at 6:28 p.m.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – One of a pair of fisherman who went into the river after their boat began taking on water this afternoon died despite efforts to save him.
It happened on the Chehalis River about 10 miles west west of Chehalis, near Dryad.
“Two guys, friends, were fishing in a little 12-foot aluminum boat and they hit some rapids,” Lewis County Sheriff’s Office Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said.
The men jumped into the water when their boat began to sink, according to Brown.
“The one who was wearing a life jacket survived; the one who wasn’t did not,” she said.
The survivor was able to find his friend, drag him to shore and performed CPR for 20 to 30 minutes, according to Brown.
When that didn’t work, he swam back across the river and found a bicyclist riding along a trail to use a cell phone to call 911 for help, she said.
It happened about 11:40 a.m., according to Brown.
Deputies and aid were called at 12:36 a.m. to the area near the 400 block of River Road, according to Brown.
Members of Lewis County Fire Districts 6, 11 and 16 responded, but there was no resuscitating the man, Firefighter Kyle DePriest said.
The men’s ages and hometowns are not yet available. The survivor was transported to Providence Centralia Hospital to be treated for hypothermia, according to Lewis County Fire District 6.
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CORRECTION: This has been updated to correctly reflect that the sheriff’s office and aid were dispatched at the same time; and that the survivor said the initial incident took place at 11:40 a.m.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
Indeed, I stand corrected. Bravo sir.
Perhaps you may want to consult a simple Washington state map showing the drainages of the Willapa and Doty hills. The sources of the tributaries that feed the Chehalis.
Nobody can possibly try and reason glacier melt – off from the Cascades or Olympic mountain ranges can in any way, shape or form, feed into the upper Chehalis river basin.
There are no glaciers in the low hills of Washington State. Nobody is claiming that there are. The FACT is, the water that melts from glaciers has to go somewhere, the least of which is the Chehalis. To try and claim that all glacier water deliberately avoids dumping into the Chehalis River is a specious claim and has no basis in common sense. Glacier runoff doesn’t get to decide which rivers it wants to flow into and which ones to avoid.
There are absolutely no glacier fed tributaries on the Chehalis river.
Simple geography will tell you that. Where exactly are there glaciers anywhere in the low hills of southwestern Washington?
Maybe being aware that two days prior to their ill fated boat trip the area was inundated with heavy flood producing rain fall, might of factored into this misadventure.
Certainly no glaciers in the Chehalis anywhere.
There are several forks that flow into the Chehalis. It’s not just one continuous river. Several forks and streams that feed the Chehalis are directly from glacier melt.
Coming off the glaciers? Really? Don’t think the Chehalis River is glacier fed? In fact, I know it is not glacier fed, but still cold this time of year.
Even colder just coming off the glaciers… wont be doing that again!
Mariah thank goodness you to came out of it okay. Even though the Chehalis is shallow at some points it is still treacherous and cold.
This is a real eye opener. My boyfriend and I went out on the river a couple weeks ago, in a little 10 foot 2 man boat. We were having issues with water being too shallow, and the rocks banging our boat up. Water started coming in, & luckily we made a last second decision to head towards shore, instead of going further like originally planned. We were almost to shore and the boat went under! That water is so cold, in so glad we decided to head towards shore when we did or we could have died. My condolences to the family of the man who’s life was lost, and prayers for a speedy recovery for the man who survived.