(STORY IMAGE:KHQ.COM)
BROOKINGS, Ore. -The Coast Guard and multiple local responders rescued an Army Corps of Engineer employee from a capsized boat near the Chetco River entrance in Brookings, Wednesday morning.
The man was rescued from an USACE vessel’s cabin after a person operating a Port of Brookings owned tractor pulled the vessel closer to shore, and rescuers delivered the man to emergency medical technicians on scene.
An underway Coast Guard boat crew aboard a 47-foot Motor Life Boat from Station Chetco River received the initial call for help at 11:06 a.m., from a good Samaritan who witnessed the 26-foot USACE survey vessel capsize. Another Coast Guard boat crew aboard a 29-foot Response Boat-Small II arrived on scene alongside the capsized vessel at 11:14 a.m. and reported one of the passengers escaped the boat and swam to shore and the other person was unaccounted for.
Meanwhile during a first attempt by a Coast Guard beach crew, dressed in dry suits, walked a line out 50-feet to the overturned vessel, but the line broke when it was pulled by rescuers and a winch. During the second attempt a thicker line was walked out the boat and the port’s tractor was able to pull the boat about 30 feet closer to shore where responders where able to get to the man stuck in the cabin.
The sea conditions on scene include 2 to 4 –foot seas and 4-foot breaks.