Two people were rescued from an area of the Washougal River known as Naked Falls on Saturday evening.
Emergency responders were called at 5:08 p.m. to the waterfall, about 1.5 miles past Dougan Falls on the Washougal River, for a report of a swimmer with a shoulder injury.
While on their way, crews requested the Regional Technical Rescue Team, and arrived to find the 24-year-old female patient 200 feet down a steep and rocky trail on the bank of the river, according to Skamania County EMS.
While setting up the rope system, another bystander told crews that a juvenile was stuck in a waterfall upstream.
The juvenile was considered in more immediate danger, so rescuers diverted their attention to that area, about 1/4 mile upstream, while one paramedic remained with the woman.
Upstream, crews found a boy with his leg stuck between two rocks at the base of a 7-foot waterfall, while bystanders held his head above water, according to the EMS agency.
Crews worked with bystanders to free the boy’s leg and get the patient to shore. He was put into a stokes basket and taken up the 500-foot trail to a waiting ambulance, the EMS agency reported. The boy had been in the cold water for about 30 minutes and was taken to PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center.
Crews then refocused their efforts on the initial call, using a complex rope system to raise the woman 50 feet to the trail. She was also taken to PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center.
Skamania County Fire District 4, Skamania County Fire District 5, Skamania County Fire District 2 and Camas-Washougal Fire Department all assisted at the scene.
