Close call on river spotlights dangers at Ferndale bridge

Bigfork residents Holly and Harry Wilson had just gotten home at around 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, May 20 when their next-door neighbors came running over, yelling about a child in the river.

From their backyard overlooking the Swan River near Ferndale, the couple watched as a 3-year-old boy hurtled downstream on his back, screaming at the top of his lungs.

Harry, 71, made a dash for his kayak, which Holly, 72, had insisted on having ready early in the season. Harry threw on his life jacket as he launched into the river and took off after the child.

He caught up to the boy about a quarter-mile down river and pulled him into the kayak, rubbing his back and shoulders to warm him up. Around 15 minutes later, Harry said he pulled up to the takeout point near Landmark Lane, where the boy’s frightened family, Holly, EMTs and several other law enforcement officers were waiting. The child’s body temperature had dropped to 87 degrees, but otherwise he went home unscathed two hours after being rescued.

After talking with the child’s family, the Wilsons learned that the boy, his sister and their parents had all piled into a two-person kayak a few miles upstream at the end of Rainbow Drive, a popular launching point for boaters and floaters. Only the children wore life jackets.

Not far down river, the kayak began taking on water as they navigated some rapids and approached the Ferndale bridge on Montana 209.

Harry said the father told him he had attempted to turn the kayak toward shore before going under the bridge when the kayak rolled, spilling all four occupants.

The father grabbed their 4-year-old daughter and the mother grabbed their son. But when she and the boy reached the bridge, the swirling current dragged the woman under, forcing her to release her grip, according to Holly.

Both father and daughter made it to shore, and the mother, her hands free, managed to pull herself back to the surface when an onlooker helped her to shore.

Holly and her neighbors gathered the family and drove them to the take-out point while Harry raced after the boy in his kayak.

“He’s very fortunate to be alive,” Harry said. “If he’d caught a snag ... or got flipped over, at 3 years old, hey, you’re not going to survive that.”

On Wednesday, the Swan River gushed at about 4,800 cfs, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The normal flow for this time of year is 2,980 cfs.

May and June are always the most dangerous months on the Swan, according to the Wilsons, who have lived on the river since 2002.

Harry said his top concern right now is the lack of signs at put-in points warning boaters of hazards at the Ferndale Bridge, which is currently under construction.

Large orange signs at some of the put-ins near the bridge warn recreationists of a 6-foot clearance at the bridge, but not of the currents or rapids accompanying the high waters.

The bridge construction project, managed by the Montana Department of Transportation and contracted to Sletten Construction, called for an additional two-lane bridge to detour traffic around the old lanes, creating a double bridge.

The pilings supporting the new bridge funnel the river’s current into the center pillar supporting the old bridge. The massive pillar creates a whirlpool effect, sucking water, and anything in it, in and down.

According to Zachary Zupan, the project manager for Sletten, four warning signs with flashing yellow lights warn floaters from the banks of the river at two locations, at 1,500 feet and 500 feet before the bridge, of the restricted access and potential hazards ahead.

Several buoys floating just in front of the bridge also warn river-goers of a hazard area ahead, but by the time boaters reach that point, they have no way to exit the river before being pulled under the bridge.

Harry said over the years, his friends, his daughter and even he has gone into the river at the bridge. Thankfully, he said, they were wearing life jackets.

Of the many others Harry said he has seen fall victim to the same stretch of river, not all have survived.

“These things happen in good conditions, so you can only imagine what’s going to happen in bad conditions,” Harry said.

Dillon Tabish, the regional information and education manager for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, sent out a press release in April urging recreationists to exercise caution on the Swan River.

On Wednesday, he advised boaters to avoid going on the river altogether due to extreme conditions that make it unsafe.

“I wouldn’t want to be on the river right now,” Tabish said.

Tabish said his department has been working with the Department of Transportation to identify high-traffic areas and implement appropriate signs warning people of the danger.

Harry Wilson, however, said he believed local authorities should be doing more to prevent incidents like Sunday, even if that means closing the river.

According to Tabish, state agencies have closed sections of different rivers across the state in the past due to conditions deemed uniquely hazardous, however, he said it would take a formal request from the sheriff’s office to begin taking steps to close the Swan River.

Flathead County Sheriff Chuck Curry said that he has yet to discuss the implications of Sunday’s incident with Tabish or the wildlife agency.

“As a general rule, we don’t close down rivers. We just do advisories to people,” Curry said.

He said the department always encourages people to know what’s downstream, know their abilities and take precautions. However, Curry said he plans to talk with state personnel and look into further potential action if necessary.

Reporter Mary Cloud Taylor can be reached at 758-4459 or mtaylor@dailyinterlake.com.

— This story has been updated to clarify that four signs are posted along the river warning of potential hazards at the bridge.