Skip to content

Crews say North Van river rescue kicks off busy season

District of North Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services members were called to pull a stranded teen from the Seymour River Thursday afternoon.
DNV

District of North Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services members were called to pull a stranded teen from the Seymour River Thursday afternoon.

According to assistant fire chief David Dales, four boys from the Riverside Drive area decided to go tubing in the warm weather and one wound up in trouble around 5:30 p.m.

Although the Seymour is not particularly raging, crews treated it like a swift water rescue, Dales said.

“The water level is actually a little low but there are some moving parts and the group just kind of got separated a little bit and the one kid got put into a spot where he couldn’t exit himself,” he said. “Basically as our guys were entering the water, the natural current pushed the kid and his little floatie into a safer area.”

March is still a bit early in the year for river rescues, Dales conceded, but he said it is a sign of things to come.

“It just shows you a couple days of nice weather gets people thinking it’s summer,” he said. “Our rescue season used to be starting in May and carrying till September. It’s basically year round – for all types of rescues, trail rescues, mountain bike rescues. The North Shore is becoming a 365-day recreational spot.”

Dales said his crews are bracing for a busy summer. Anyone planning to go out on the water should follow AdventureSmart BC guidelines and wear a personal floatation device, he added.