Stranded boaters labor rescuers

By OWEN PROTHRO

Staff writer

Hillsboro firefighters were kept busy Labor Day weekend receiving two dispatches for boats stranded at Marion Reservoir.

The first dispatch at around 1:25 p.m. Friday was canceled because another boater arrived to help.

“It’s always nice when someone else can help out and kind of be neighborly or friendly on the water,” Hillsboro fire chief Matt Hein said.

However, a second boat carrying a family of five ran out of fuel and was stranded around 11 p.m. Saturday near French Creek Cove, requiring assistance from firefighters. Jennifer Crawford, who was one of five stranded, initially called Army Corps of Engineers before reaching out to Hillsboro fire and rescue for help, county sheriff Jeff Soyez said.

The other four were not identified, Soyez said.

Hein spoke with nearby campers when a rescue crew arrived Saturday, then told him they thought the family had gone out earlier in the day and had been gone for a while.

It took six rescuers, two boats, a drone, and two hours to get the family ashore. Three firefighters were in one boat, two were in another, and Hein spotted on-land.

“The only problem that we had the other night,” Hein said, “was it was completely dark, and so our visual navigation didn’t work very well.”

Hillsboro’s rescue boats are inflatable and can’t have spotlights mounted on them. Instead, rescuers use flashlights in the dark and can be unable to spot landmarks.

“When you’re out there and there’s no additional light, it’s very disorientating,” Hein said.

A dispatcher sent Crawford’s phone number to Hein. He then contacted Crawford and got the boat’s coordinates.

The boat was near a dead-end road at French Creek Cove.

“Sure enough, they were about probably 100 to 150 yards offshore in the water,” Hein said.

Rescuers more or less had to feel their way along to find the family.

“You try to stay close enough that you can still keep a reference and a visual on-shore,” Hein said.

To his knowledge, Hein said both rescues were for unrelated boats.