People who handle water rescues in Snohomish County are worried about a large logjam along a stretch of the South Fork Stillaguamish River popular with some rafters.
The logjam, on the river’s south fork just east of Verlot, could be fatal if someone were to be trapped beneath it by the river’s current, Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office bureau chief David Bales said.
The logjam is especially dangerous because it’s preceded by a smooth stretch of the river. The current pushes rafters straight toward it, Bales said.
“We’re afraid we’re going to have a drowning if we don’t get the word out and have people stay off that stretch of the river,” Bales said Tuesday. “It’s very, very hazardous.”
County employees placed warning signs upstream of the logjam Monday in hopes of alerting rafters and others about the hazard ahead, Bales said.
Bob Dunn, who lives near the logjam, called the sheriff’s office Sunday after watching a raft hit the logs and overturn. The teens who’d been on the raft swam to safety, but their boat remains wrapped around a log, he said.
Since Friday, Dunn said he’s seen four rafts crash into the logjam and overturn.
“They could have easily hit their heads on the logs and been knocked unconscious, and if that were the case, they would have been sucked under,” he said. “It seemed like time to do something about this.”
The sheriff’s office plans to contact the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers about moving the logjam.
“Moving a large logjam is something that takes planning,” Bales said. “For now, we just want people to be aware that there’s a very dangerous stretch of river right there.”
Reporter Scott Pesznecker: 425-339-3436 or spesznecker@heraldnet.com.
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