Rescuers safely extract three kayakers and canoeists from rushing Huron River

by Geoff Larcom | The Ann Arbor News

Saturday June 27, 2009, 4:18 PM

Rescuers plucked three people from the fast-moving waters of the Huron River in Washtenaw County Friday night and Saturday morning after canoe or kayak mishaps.

The first rescue occurred Friday night near Dexter-Huron Metropark northwest of Ann Arbor after a man's kayak became entangled in the branches of a tree in the river, said Keith DeZwaan, supervisor of the Marine Division of the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office.

The man had been paddling with a group of others in canoes and kayaks down the Huron around 9:30 p.m. Two others had been able to get out of the river, DeZwaan said, but the high water pushed the man's kayak up against the branches in the near darkness.

Rescuers launched a boat into the river and went downstream to get the man, who was treated for bumps and scrapes and released, DeZwaan said.

The second incident occurred near Island Park in Ann Arbor late this morning, when a man and woman whose canoe had capsized were rescued from a dead tree in the water by members of the Sheriff's Department and the Ann Arbor Fire Department.

Police used a boat and needed a piece of rope to stabilize the craft in the water during the rescue. It took three trips to complete the rescue but the couple suffered no injuries, a news release from the Ann Arbor Fire Department said.

The man and woman from Ann Arbor were traveling with another couple, and the group had rented canoes from the canoe livery at Argo Pond, DeZwaan said.

He urged extreme caution when the river is as high as it is now, because the rising water causes more shoreline trees to fall into the river, creating more obstacles. If you are not an experienced paddler, think twice about going on the river when the water is this high, DeZwaan said