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Penticton Fire Department responds to third channel rescue in three days

A female went missing, becoming separated from group after attempting to retrieve personal item
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(Phil McLachlan - Western News - File)

For the third time in three days, the Penticton Fire Department was called out this afternoon (July 22) to assist in a rescue on the Penticton channel.

This time, it was a woman who had gone missing after becoming separated from her group.

According to the fire department, the individual had dropped a personal item in the water, and while attempting to retrieve it, the separated parties could not find each other again.

Upon reaching the end of the channel, the first party called first responders to assist in finding their friend. Shortly after responding to the call at 3:17 p.m., the fire department was able to locate the missing individual and the parties were reunited. No injuries were reported.

However in doing so, the fire department noticed many groups of individuals with tubes tied together. This has been the cause of several recent rescues, the most recent yesterday (July 21) when seven tourists were separated after their tubes became tangled around the abutment of a bridge.

“We saw tons of people still tied together, we can’t stress enough how important it is not to tie together. And (bring) life jackets for kids,” said Penticton Fire Department captain, Chad Taylor.

“We’ve been out there quite a bit,” Taylor added, speaking to the frequency of recent calls to the channel.

READ MORE: Seven tourists reunited after tangling tubes on Penticton channel, becoming separated

On Monday (July 20) Penticton Fire Department were tasked with dealing with two parties of people, both with tubes tied together.

READ MORE: ‘It’s all preventable’ says Penticton Fire Department after another channel rescue

On July 15, a family was rescued after flipping their tubes on the channel.

READ MORE: Family rescued after flipping tube on Penticton channel

READ MORE: Four people rescued after floating past Penticton’s Skaha Bridge

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Phil McLachlan

About the Author: Phil McLachlan

Phil McLachlan is the editor at the Penticton Western News. He served as the reporter, and eventually editor of The Free Press newspaper in Fernie.
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