Boy pulled from swimming hole with injury

Rescue crews came to the aid of a 16-year-old Vancouver boy on Sunday afternoon when he was injured in Camas.

Camas-Washougal Fire Battalion Chief Mark Ervin said about 4:52 p.m. the boy injured an ankle in the area known as the Potholes. The spot on Lacamas Creek is just southeast of Round Lake and below a Georgia-Pacific mill dam.

The boy was swimming with friends.

“He slid down the bank and hurt his ankle and ended on a ledge,” Ervin said. “They were letting water out. … We had them shut down the gates in the dam so we could lower the water a little bit.”

Technical crews from the Vancouver Fire Department and Fire District 6 responded.

Ervin said they decided to bring the boy out on the west side, which is not as steep as the east side, which has a 20-foot wall. The Potholes is just off the trail in Lacamas Lake Park.

A life vest was lowered to the boy.

“We tied a rope around him and … we tethered him over to the other side and walked him up.” Ervin said.

Eight firefighters from the Camas-Washougal department responded along with three from East County Fire & Rescue.

Ervin said the boy’s father came for him and took him to a hospital.