High Current Sweeps Woman Miles Down Quinebaug River
Thompson, Conn. - A kayaker was separated from her party and swept approximately 3 miles down the Quinebaug River before being rescued on Sunday afternoon.
At approximately 12:55 p.m. on Sunday, July 23rd, 2023, the Quinebaug Volunteer Fire Department was dispatched to the Quinebaug River, in the area of 296 Fabyan Rd, for reports of multiple parties in the water and in distress.
According to Quinebaug Volunteer Fire Department’s Chief Steve Bodreau, firefighters responded to the area, reaching the river through a cornfield’s dirt access road. When crews made it to the water, with the help of a mutual aid fire department members’ ATV to cut through the muddy area, they found multiple people in the water where they had attempted to get out of their kayaks. The party had begun kayaking before realizing the water was too high, and moving too fast, for them to continue. The kayakers were quickly helped ashore and a head count was conducted. It was determined that one female, who had last been seen out of her kayak without a floatation device, was missing from the group. Believing the woman had most likely been swept down the river, Chief Bodreau instructed Community Fire Company personnel to stage at the Brickyard Road bridge and Muddy Brook Fire Company personnel to stage on the Red Bridge Road Bridge and monitor the river from those locations.
Community Fire Company’s boat was initially requested to the Fabyan Rd location but it was determined that the current was too hazardous for a safe deployment. When crews discovered that the woman was drifting down the river, the West Thompson Fire Department’s boat was requested to head upriver from the Thompson Dam in case the woman made it past the Army Corps Of Engineer’s bridge.
The Connecticut State Police were able to conduct an emergency geolocation of the woman’s phone and confirmed she was traveling downriver, heading toward the new Army Corps of Engineer Bridge, between Ravanelle Rd and Blaine Rd. An additional Muddy Brook crew was sent to the Blaine Bridge where they found the woman, nearly 3 miles from where she had last been seen. The woman was in the water for approximately an hour.
Drones were requested from the Dayville Fire Company and the Connecticut State Police, as well as a k9 from the State Police but the woman was found prior to any of these resources being put to use.
The woman was transported by Putnam EMS for minor injuries. Three kayakers were evaluated at the Fabyan Rd location and were released with patient refusals.
This is the second water rescue on the Fabyan Rd section of the Quinebaug River in less than 24 hours and the 4th water rescue in the Quinebaug Valley Region in the past week. The outcome of these incidents has ranged from no injuries to fatalities. As crews operated this incident, numerous other groups were seen kayaking, tubing, and paddle boarding without floatation devices on.
Chief Bodreau went on to say “The river is too high right now… it looks like fun but people don’t realize there are trees across [the river], and the current is so swift that it either slams you into them or sends you sideways and takes the kayak further. People should stay off the river for at least a week until it calms down”
Agencies that responded, or were dispatched, included the Quinebaug Volunteer Fire Department, Muddy Brook Fire Department, Community Fire Company, West Thompson Fire Department, Dayville Fire Company, Putnam EMS, Connecticut State Police, and the Connecticut Department of Environmental Conservation Police.