Grandparents, grandchildren rescued after jumping from burning boat

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    MULTNOMAH COUNTY, OR (KPTV) — Two grandparents, their small grandchildren, and two dogs survived a boat fire that forced them to jump into the icy waters near Sauvie Island and swim to an embankment where they clung to a cliffside and waited for rescuers.

The Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office said they were dispatched to the rescue Tuesday afternoon and marine deputies raced to get to the family by boat from their boat launch on the Columbia River.

Sgt. Stephen Dangler told Fox 12 it took them about a half-hour to get to the family.

“I was fairly terrified once I heard there were four people who had jumped off the vessel because, at that point, we don’t know if we’re going to be doing rescues or recoveries,” Dangler said Wednesday.

By the time Dangler and his partner got close, patrol deputies on foot could hear the family yelling for help but couldn’t pinpoint their exact location due to a sheer cliff covered in brush.

The grandparents, children, and two dogs were clinging to the edge of a mud embankment and couldn’t get out of the water.

“This is a cliff ledge that went right up to the water level,” Dangler said. “So right where they were lying was about a foot of water, (the grandfather) was laying sideways in it, they were trying to keep the children up.”

The deputies steered the boat aside the cliff. Dangler said it was easy to get the children, ages eight and nine, out of the water, as well as the grandmother and a puppy.

The grandfather and an elderly dog were struggling with hypothermia and couldn’t move. Dangler said he couldn’t get them out alone, so the rescue boat returned to shore to get more help and Dangler jumped in the water.

“I was kind of kneeling over the two of them,” Dangler said. “I was holding the one gentleman in my left arm and the dog in my right arm and we were just trying to keep morale up, keep spirits up.”

For several minutes, they waited in freezing water.

“I was able to verbally communicate with him for the first five to eight minutes but then it began to slowly set in where he was not able to communicate as well,” Dangler said.

When the rescue boat returned, the pair were able to get the grandfather and the dog into the boat and to the hospital.

All four family members stayed at OHSU overnight and the grandparents and grandchildren are now home and doing better.

“Having life-jackets available and accessible saved their lives,” Dangler said. “Had life jackets not been utilized, I think the outcome would be much different.”

The sheriff’s office said it’s still not clear why the boat caught fire. After firefighters extinguished the flames the boat sank.

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