Victoria & Saanich Police Officers Team Up To Rescue Man From Sinking Boat In Gorge Waterway
Victoria, BC – A man was transported to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries after VicPD and Saanich Police Department officers rescued him after his boat sunk in the Gorge Waterway this morning.
Just after 4:35 a.m. this morning, both Saanich Police Department and Victoria Police Department officers, including VicPD Patrol and K9 officers, responded to a report of a boat sinking in the Gorge Waterway near the west side of Tillicum bridge. When officers arrived they discovered the boat had capsized, and a man, who lived aboard the boat with his dog, clinging to the side. The officers threw a line to the man.
As the current moved the boat close to a nearby ladder exit, officers encouraged the man to swim for the ladder and pulled him towards shore using the line. The VicPD K9 officer then entered the ladder area, shielding the man with his own body to assist in the man’s safe exit, while the boat was swept away.
Once out of the water, officers warmed the man with their jackets until BC Emergency Health Services Paramedics arrived, treated the man and transported him to hospital. Saanich Police officers were able to rescue the man’s dog safely.
ctv weighs in on the press release:
Officers from both the Victoria and Saanich police departments rescued a man and his dog from a sinking boat in the Gorge Waterway early Friday morning.
The dramatic rescue began just after 4:35 a.m. this morning when police received reports of a sinking boat near the west side of Tillicum Bridge.
Officers from VicPD, the Saanich police department and a police dog responded to the call. When they arrived, the officers found that the boat had completely capsized and that a man and his dog were clinging to the side of the vessel.
Police then threw the man a line from shore for him to grab onto. As the man grabbed the line, VicPD says the current pushed the boat close to a nearby shore ladder exit. Officers then encouraged the man to swim for the ladder as they simultaneously pulled him towards dry land using the line.
As the man neared the ladder, one officer entered the Gorge Waterway to protect the man from being pushed by the current and assisted him out of the water. Officers were also able to rescue the man's dog from the water unharmed.
Once the man was out of the water, officers kept him warm until paramedics arrived. He was then treated on-site before being transported to hospital.
Police say the man was living on the boat before it capsized.
https://vancouverisl...-boat-1.4745329
this one also has the dog clinging to the boat. it's the first one to indicate a police dog responded:
Saanich police department and a police dog responded
Officers from VicPD, the Saanich police department and a police dog responded to the call.
does the dog have a patrol car? or does he/she have to run there after getting the alert?
Edited by Victoria Watcher, 27 December 2019 - 04:00 PM.