Firefighters have rescued multiple people in less than a week, after many continue to get caught in parts of the Ottawa River.
The infamous spot along the river is the Deschênes Rapids near Britannia Beach. The unsuspecting area is between the city and Gatineau and has been the site of several fatal drownings and many rescues for firefighters.
The first call came in at 5:39 p.m. on June 24, for a swimmer in distress. Crews located two people in trouble, one a swimmer and another resident who had fallen off a jet ski, clinging to it while wearing a lifejacket.
Ottawa Firefighter Services (OFS) water rescue team made its way to the people. The swimmer was saved at 5:56 p.m. and didn’t have injuries. The jet skier was treated for minor injuries after being rescued at 5:58 p.m.
However, not even an hour later, crews were back out to save two more people.
At 6:34 p.m., callers reported a yellow raft with people inside was caught in the rapids. The team arrived to find the two people stranded on an island in the rapids with a dinghy. While neither were injured nor in distress, they weren’t able to make it shore by themselves.
Crews launched their craft and the pair were rescued at 6:53 p.m.
The next day two paddleboarders were caught in another set of dangerous rapids on the Ottawa River.
Firefighters said they got a call at 2:15 p.m. on June 25. Two people were in distress in the Little Chaudière Rapids, near the 0-100 block of Kichi Zībī Mīkan Parkway. Crews quickly found the two people and made their way to the pair.
They were put in the rescue boat and brought to shore by 2:37 p.m. with no injuries.