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Man rescued from raging river

A man clinging to a log was rescued from the Columbia River after falling into the frigid water on Saturday night.

A man clinging to a log was rescued from the Columbia River after falling into the frigid water on Saturday night.

Captain Jason Milne from the Kootenay Boundary Regional Fire Rescue (KBRFR) said they did not know how the victim fell into the water off of the Esplanade and RCMP are “still investigating” what exactly happened.

Four KBRFR members in a rescue boat had some difficulties because of the position the man was wrapped in, said Milne, noting that he was clinging to a log in a pretty precarious situation.

“The patient was found (clutching) a log wedged between some submerged trees,” Capt. Milne said in a release.

The call came in around 8 p.m. and within minutes KBRFR had a rescue boat in the water, catching the man in the river before he made it to the Old Trail Bridge.

And barely 40 minutes later he was pulled out of the water, having sustained a rib injury and some lacerations with his tangle with the trees, and was suffering from fatigue.

In addition, he was also starting to exhibit signs of hypothermia, said Capt. Milne.

He said they were pretty lucky the guys were already out in the truck when then they had to dispatch the boat.

Over the weekend the fire department was kept busy, he added, due to the effects of the storm that hit Greater Trail on Friday.

The man was moved to the boat launch and transferred to the B.C. ambulance service.