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Crews, equipment add up to costly river rescue costs
FREDERICKSBURG, Va. - When rescuers pulled 16 teens on a canoe
outing from the rain-swollen Rappahannock River, nobody was
thinking about how much it would cost.
The firefighters, paramedics and police officers were just happy
that no one drowned during the dramatic July Fourth rescue.
But had the teens been required to pay up, they would have had
to dig deep to cover the tab.
Minutes after the boats from the Shiloh Quaker Camp in Madison
County tipped in the rapids off Fredericksburg's Riverside Drive,
rescuers were rushing to the scene.
At one point there were two fire trucks on hand, two rescue
vehicles, a command car and three city police officers. It costs
about $100 each time one of the trucks leaves the building on a
call. That doesn't include the time of more than a dozen rescuers,
some of whom were on the scene for more than two hours.
"You're probably talking 30-man hours there," said Herbert
Pritchett, captain of the Fredericksburg Fire Department.
That one call cost city taxpayers more than $6,500, Pritchett
estimated.
Three city police officers were on hand to help and to redirect
traffic.
Jim Shelhorse, spokesman for the Fredericksburg Police
Department, said that because the rescue happened on a holiday, the
department already had its hands full.
"It was a busy day and we certainly had other things (the
officers) could be doing," Shelhorse said.
"It's ridiculous that people are in the river" when it's high
and dangerous, "but it's not against the law," he said.
Chris Smith, chief of the Falmouth Volunteer Fire Department,
said the costs and staffing are comparable on the Stafford County
side, with a fire engine, paramedics, ambulance, two boats and a
special marine rescue truck.
There are other hidden costs: Already this year, two Stafford
rescuers have been injured on the river. One hurt his knee, another
sustained a back injury.
"The problem is that it's becoming a nuisance - not the rescue
itself, but the complacency of people" who use the river unwisely,
Smith said. He said fairly regular false alarms require rescuers on
both sides of the river to respond in force.
During a normal year, the Rappahannock in June and July becomes
a placid, meandering stream. But this year, because of heavy rains,
more calls to help swimmers and boaters in distress have been
flooding in.
When there's a drowning - there have been two so far this year -
the search-and-rescue effort is even more complicated and
time-consuming because it is followed by recovery, which involves
boats, divers and sometime helicopters. Not that anyone is punching
a calculator when people accidentally run into trouble on the
river.
Pritchett said the city fire department in a typical year may
have three or four river rescues and maybe a dozen calls to the
Rappahannock. At this year's pace, there are likely to be many
more.
Fredericksburg and Falmouth fire departments train for river
emergencies and get help from paid and volunteer workers and river
enthusiasts.
After a spate of rescue calls a few years ago, there was some
discussion in the city about passing along some of the costs to
those being rescued. No action was taken.
Stafford, whose boundary goes up to the Fredericksburg shore,
has a measure on the books, though it's rarely, if ever, enforced.
It covers a section of the Rappahannock from Embrey Dam to the
Falmouth Bridge.
Anyone not wearing a life jacket who requires rescue while the
river is in the yellow level - 1.5 feet to 4 feet - can be fined up
to $100. If the river is in the red, or danger, level at 4 feet or
above, even someone wearing a life jacket can be subject to a fine
of up to $100 after rescue. The ordinance adds that anyone rescued
when the water is at yellow or red levels can be assessed rescue
costs.
No one has been fined or assessed costs in recent years, but the
number of rescues so far this spring has authorities revisiting the
statute, said Lt. Bryant Halstead of the Stafford Sheriff's Office.
"Normally this is not a problem, but we've seen an excessive
amount of rescues this year," he said.
Similar scenarios have been playing out on rivers around the
country. For example, rescuers have been called to Great Falls
along the Potomac River several times in recent weeks; three people
have drowned. In each case, rescuers and the National Park Service,
which maintains a park there, are involved.
Many areas require paddlers to secure permits before using the
river. Some, such as Richmond, require permits for anyone on the
James when the river level is at 9 feet or higher. Anyone without a
permit can be fined.
Several states, including California, allow jurisdictions to
charge victims or their families for search-and-rescue costs.
Jason Robertson, access director for the national boating group
American Whitewater in Silver Spring, Md., said who should foot the
bill in river rescues is a perennial topic of discussion,
especially during prolonged periods of high water.
America's rivers are generally viewed much as a public sidewalk
or highway, Robertson said. "Rescue costs are things that we as a
society have agreed to accept" as a public service. But as costs
continue to rise, that view may be changing.
Robertson said there have been instances where rescued parties
have been charged with reckless endangerment by local police. "But
it's hard to make that stick," he said. "I'm not aware of anybody
who's been prosecuted."
---
The Free Lance-Star is published in Fredericksburg.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
outing from the rain-swollen Rappahannock River, nobody was
thinking about how much it would cost.
The firefighters, paramedics and police officers were just happy
that no one drowned during the dramatic July Fourth rescue.
But had the teens been required to pay up, they would have had
to dig deep to cover the tab.
Minutes after the boats from the Shiloh Quaker Camp in Madison
County tipped in the rapids off Fredericksburg's Riverside Drive,
rescuers were rushing to the scene.
At one point there were two fire trucks on hand, two rescue
vehicles, a command car and three city police officers. It costs
about $100 each time one of the trucks leaves the building on a
call. That doesn't include the time of more than a dozen rescuers,
some of whom were on the scene for more than two hours.
"You're probably talking 30-man hours there," said Herbert
Pritchett, captain of the Fredericksburg Fire Department.
That one call cost city taxpayers more than $6,500, Pritchett
estimated.
Three city police officers were on hand to help and to redirect
traffic.
Jim Shelhorse, spokesman for the Fredericksburg Police
Department, said that because the rescue happened on a holiday, the
department already had its hands full.
"It was a busy day and we certainly had other things (the
officers) could be doing," Shelhorse said.
"It's ridiculous that people are in the river" when it's high
and dangerous, "but it's not against the law," he said.
Chris Smith, chief of the Falmouth Volunteer Fire Department,
said the costs and staffing are comparable on the Stafford County
side, with a fire engine, paramedics, ambulance, two boats and a
special marine rescue truck.
There are other hidden costs: Already this year, two Stafford
rescuers have been injured on the river. One hurt his knee, another
sustained a back injury.
"The problem is that it's becoming a nuisance - not the rescue
itself, but the complacency of people" who use the river unwisely,
Smith said. He said fairly regular false alarms require rescuers on
both sides of the river to respond in force.
During a normal year, the Rappahannock in June and July becomes
a placid, meandering stream. But this year, because of heavy rains,
more calls to help swimmers and boaters in distress have been
flooding in.
When there's a drowning - there have been two so far this year -
the search-and-rescue effort is even more complicated and
time-consuming because it is followed by recovery, which involves
boats, divers and sometime helicopters. Not that anyone is punching
a calculator when people accidentally run into trouble on the
river.
Pritchett said the city fire department in a typical year may
have three or four river rescues and maybe a dozen calls to the
Rappahannock. At this year's pace, there are likely to be many
more.
Fredericksburg and Falmouth fire departments train for river
emergencies and get help from paid and volunteer workers and river
enthusiasts.
After a spate of rescue calls a few years ago, there was some
discussion in the city about passing along some of the costs to
those being rescued. No action was taken.
Stafford, whose boundary goes up to the Fredericksburg shore,
has a measure on the books, though it's rarely, if ever, enforced.
It covers a section of the Rappahannock from Embrey Dam to the
Falmouth Bridge.
Anyone not wearing a life jacket who requires rescue while the
river is in the yellow level - 1.5 feet to 4 feet - can be fined up
to $100. If the river is in the red, or danger, level at 4 feet or
above, even someone wearing a life jacket can be subject to a fine
of up to $100 after rescue. The ordinance adds that anyone rescued
when the water is at yellow or red levels can be assessed rescue
costs.
No one has been fined or assessed costs in recent years, but the
number of rescues so far this spring has authorities revisiting the
statute, said Lt. Bryant Halstead of the Stafford Sheriff's Office.
"Normally this is not a problem, but we've seen an excessive
amount of rescues this year," he said.
Similar scenarios have been playing out on rivers around the
country. For example, rescuers have been called to Great Falls
along the Potomac River several times in recent weeks; three people
have drowned. In each case, rescuers and the National Park Service,
which maintains a park there, are involved.
Many areas require paddlers to secure permits before using the
river. Some, such as Richmond, require permits for anyone on the
James when the river level is at 9 feet or higher. Anyone without a
permit can be fined.
Several states, including California, allow jurisdictions to
charge victims or their families for search-and-rescue costs.
Jason Robertson, access director for the national boating group
American Whitewater in Silver Spring, Md., said who should foot the
bill in river rescues is a perennial topic of discussion,
especially during prolonged periods of high water.
America's rivers are generally viewed much as a public sidewalk
or highway, Robertson said. "Rescue costs are things that we as a
society have agreed to accept" as a public service. But as costs
continue to rise, that view may be changing.
Robertson said there have been instances where rescued parties
have been charged with reckless endangerment by local police. "But
it's hard to make that stick," he said. "I'm not aware of anybody
who's been prosecuted."
---
The Free Lance-Star is published in Fredericksburg.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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