Two people rescued near Naked Falls

Two people were rescued in separate incidents that occurred in the Naked Falls area of the Washougal River on Saturday.

First responders from Skamania County Fire District 4 were dispatched just after 5 p.m. to a report that a swimmer had received a shoulder injury, approximately 1.5 miles past Dougan Falls.

A 24-year-old woman was located down a 200 foot steep, rocky trail on the bank of the river. A regional technical rescue team was setting up a rope system to raise her from the river when word came that a juvenile was stuck in a waterfall upstream.

Because the juvenile was in immediate danger, most of the crew members were diverted to the minor who was approximately one-quarter mile upriver. A paramedic remained with the injured woman.

Rescuers discovered that the juvenile had his left leg stuck between two rocks at the base of a 7 foot waterfall. Bystanders had been holding his head above water for approximately 30 minutes.

Once rescue crews freed the boy’s leg, he was placed in a stokes basket, and moved up a 500 foot trail to the road where an ambulance was waiting to transport him to PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center in Vancouver.

Crews were then able to focus their efforts on the woman who was the subject of the first call. Using a complex rope system, crews were able to raise the woman 50 vertical feet up the trail. She was also transported to PeaceHealth hospital.

Skamania County Fire District 2 and the Camas-Washougal Fire Department also responded to the scene.