Lost Tubers Rescued On Saluda River In Chappells
From Newberry County Sheriff’s Office report:
At 9:33 pm Saturday night, 911 received a call about stranded and lost tubers on the Saluda River in the Chappells area. The two tubers had no idea where they were or how far they had come.
911 Centers in Saluda, Greenwood, and Newberry Counties coordinated utilizing mapping and GIS to get an approximate location. Newberry County telecommunicators were able to utilize mapping features in the 911 Center to provide locations to the first responders. It was determined they were in an extremely remote area of the river near the Outfitters development between Chappells and Buzzard’s Roost, where the river makes a huge switchback bend.
The water volume and the geography of the river at the time prevented the use of boats to extricate the victims and due to the volume of calls at the time, aviation was not available. The closest access was a private road through the area, which did not directly access the river. DNR officers, Newberry County Deputies, and members of Newberry County Emergency Services hiked to the river and were able to locate them on the opposite bank of the river at 11:41pm.
Due to exhaustion and the geography of the river where they were located, a DNR officer and a Newberry County Deputy waded and swam across the river to them and established a line to successfully guide them to the Newberry County side of the river. Members of the Chappells Rescue Squad and Newberry County EMS gave the two victims medical attention prior to them being taken to their vehicles at a boat landing near SC Hwy 39 at 1:26 am Sunday morning.
“This was a very difficult situation for first responders due to the conditions and the location. We used technology to locate them, but in the end, it took human resources, to perform a successful rescue. It was a great coordinated effort,” according to Sheriff Lee Foster. “My compliments to these brave and resourceful members of our first responder community,” said Sheriff Foster.
From Newberry County Sheriff’s Office report:
At 9:33 pm Saturday night, 911 received a call about stranded and lost tubers on the Saluda River in the Chappells area. The two tubers had no idea where they were or how far they had come.
911 Centers in Saluda, Greenwood, and Newberry Counties coordinated utilizing mapping and GIS to get an approximate location. Newberry County telecommunicators were able to utilize mapping features in the 911 Center to provide locations to the first responders. It was determined they were in an extremely remote area of the river near the Outfitters development between Chappells and Buzzard’s Roost, where the river makes a huge switchback bend.
The water volume and the geography of the river at the time prevented the use of boats to extricate the victims and due to the volume of calls at the time, aviation was not available. The closest access was a private road through the area, which did not directly access the river. DNR officers, Newberry County Deputies, and members of Newberry County Emergency Services hiked to the river and were able to locate them on the opposite bank of the river at 11:41pm.
Due to exhaustion and the geography of the river where they were located, a DNR officer and a Newberry County Deputy waded and swam across the river to them and established a line to successfully guide them to the Newberry County side of the river. Members of the Chappells Rescue Squad and Newberry County EMS gave the two victims medical attention prior to them being taken to their vehicles at a boat landing near SC Hwy 39 at 1:26 am Sunday morning.
“This was a very difficult situation for first responders due to the conditions and the location. We used technology to locate them, but in the end, it took human resources, to perform a successful rescue. It was a great coordinated effort,” according to Sheriff Lee Foster. “My compliments to these brave and resourceful members of our first responder community,” said Sheriff Foster.
