| River: | Payette, S. Fork |
|---|---|
| Reach #: |
Payette, S. Fork [ID]
1 - Grandjean to Lowman III-IV
|
| Section: | 4 - The Staircase Run |
| Location: | Whale Rock |
| Gauge: | |
| Difficulty: | IV |
| Accident Code(s): | Foot Entrapment |
| Injury Code(s): | Fatal |
| Age: | 45 |
| Experienced/Inexperienced: | Extensive Experience |
| Years Paddling: | >10 |
| Private/Commercial: | Commercial |
| Boat Type: | Raft |
| Boat Manufacturer: | |
| Boat Model: | |
| Number of Occupants: | 0 |
| Number in Group: | 0 |
| Number of Victims: | 1 |
| Other Victim Names: | |
| Hazard Codes: | Blast rock, Low Head Dam, High Water, Hydraulic/Keeper Hole, Man-made Debris Strainer, Pin/Broach, Rocks that cause blunt trauma, Natural Strainer or Sieve, Water Temp, Waterfall |
| Initial Report: | River guide who drowned Sunday on Payette identified Patrick Orr - Idaho Statesman Edition Date: 07/02/07 A 45-year-old river guide drowned Sunday afternoon on the South Fork of the Payette River when his foot got stuck in a rock after the raft he was in capsized, according to Boise County Sheriff's reports.Dean Fairburn, 45, of Garden Valley, died as a result of drowning Sunday afternoon, according to Boise County Coroner reports. The accident happened about 12:30 p.m. on the Staircase rapids, according to reports. Fairburn and his passengers were thrown in the water when their raft hit a rock in the rapids. Everyone else in the raft made it to the shore but Fairburn, according to reports. Emergency crews got Fairburn out of the water and tried to resuscitate the man at the scene, but were unsuccessful, according to reports. Fairburn was pronounced dead at the scene. |
| Summary: | KayakIdaho.com David Olson from Ketchum here. As Grant mentioned, my group of kayakers were behind the rafts by as much as five minutes at the time of the capsizing. We were flagged over by someone on the right bank above the rapid to warn us that there was an entrapment going on below the whale rocks and ropes were in the water. People adjacent to the rapid in the pullout were frantically waving to us to proceed down river and assist in a rescue. Three of us paddled as fast as we could to the left bank, below the whale rocks and above the two pin rocks Grant describes. We still did not understand where the victim was entrapped because as many times as we have been down this rapid, it has never been apparent that there is a flake of rock (and I've never been down it at lower flows) just under water and adjacent to the right side of the furthest left pin rock. It creates a crack perfect for a foot and leg entrapment. As soon as I understood where I needed to go, I paddled into the eddy on the downstream side of the left-most pin rock trying to locate the victim. At this time I saw a life vest floating downstream, looked back to the rock and saw the victim, completely submerged, next to the rock. I paddled up to the downstream side of the rock and saw that there was another, smaller, moss-covered rock on the downstream side, about four inches out of the water, creating about a three foot square platform that I could crouch on. I threw my paddle, got out of my kayak onto this platform and tried siezing the victim any way I could. His head was downstream and he was facing up with about six inches to a foot of water rushing strongly over his face. I was reaching for his head, trying to pry him up but it was so slick, I had no purchase on the moss and no angle or leverage. The victim was completely unconscious this entire time and I am estimating that he had been submerged for at least ten minutes by the time I got to him. I believe that is why his arms had gone limp over his head and allowed his vest to be pulled off. The sling that Grant mentioned was actually already being worn by the victim. It was sun-bleached and I never saw it initially or it could have been something I could have pulled up on. I was struggling to try to pry his head and upper body up and then reverting to trying to get his leg out. I was trying everything I could think of but being by myself, the only place I could doanything from was from this moss-covered rock which just gave me no angle of attack. If I was on top of the pin rock, the distance was too great to reach the victim without a belay. After five minutes of this futility, the other gentleman that Grant described being from Search and Rescue got to the pin rock and was able to climb up on it. He was the one who discovered the sling as I was now able to belay him from the top of the pin rock as he reached down to the victim. We then secured a rope to the sling and I belayed with the assistance of another kayaker, now also on top of the pin rock while the Search and Rescue individual tried to get the victim's head far enough out of the water to give him some breaths. It was impossible. The hydraulics were too strong to get him far enough out of the water to administer breaths. We finally resorted to the three of us giving it everything we had to change the angle of the rope and pull upstream and managed to get his leg un-entrapped and were able to pull him on top of the pin rock. The search and rescue individual administered about fifteen minutes or more of non-stop cpr. We then lowered the victim into a paddle raft which had been lined down to the downstream side of the pin rock and were able to ferry the victim to the river left bank. More cpr ensued until and oar boat was brought to the scene and the victim was ferried to the pullout area on the other side. From the way the victim was entrapped, my theory is he was facing upstream, head-down, swimming vigorously while being swept backwards, downriver, between the two pin rocks. This would have placed his right foot and leg into the crack created by the flake and the right side of the left-most pin rock. With his right foot and lower leg trapped, the hydraulics are so strong here, it would have swept him completely over onto his back with his foot still jammed. That could explain how his head was downstream and he was facing up when I got to him. I am playing this through my head continuously trying to think of other things I could have done. I never saw the sling. The gentleman from search and rescue found it. God bless that man. I recognize him from years at the Payettes and he was very professional and on top of the situation. I learned from him how little I know about a rescue incident like that. He is to be commended for his efforts. And thanks to my other kayaker friends who helped.Most of all, God bless Dean's family in this time of deep sorrow. He was doing something he loved and it sounds like his love for the outdoors touched countless people. |
| Detailed Description: | |
| Conclusions: | |
| Report Status: | Reported |
(RSS)
(KML)help
(mobile)
