SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Spokane-area authorities are asking residents to be aware of how dangerous area lakes and rivers are right now. Waterways are running high, fast and cold.
The Spokane County sheriff’s emergency operations team responded Monday when a 32-year-old man overturned his 12-foot canoe in the swift water of Long Lake near Nine Mile Dam. It was the team’s 19th call-out so far this year.
Deputy Craig Chamberlin says the man was wearing a life jacket. Still, he was swept nearly half a mile downstream before he could swim to shore. He was treated for hypothermia.
Water temperatures range from about 37 degrees in the Spokane River to 42 in nearby lakes.
Chamberlin says there’s still no sign of a Fairchild Air Force Base airman who put a canoe in the Spokane River on March 31 downstream from Spokane. An extensive search was conducted for 26-year-old James Ramse-Lassiter.
