TERRACE, BC. A significant joint effort between local emergency services and concerned residents led to the successful rescue of a woman from the Skeena River on Monday, July 28, after she spent an estimated two hours in the cold water.
The emergency response was triggered around 3:15 PM after Terrace RCMP received a call from a member of the public who reported hearing screams for help coming from the river area east of the Old Skeena Bridge.
After RCMP officers located the woman clinging to a branch in the water, a full-scale, multi-agency operation was launched. Terrace Search and Rescue (SAR) was joined by the Terrace and Thornhill Fire Departments, BC Emergency Health Services (EHS), and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO).
The Terrace SAR team ultimately performed the extraction, pulling the woman from the river. She was then transferred to the care of BC EHS and transported to Mills Memorial Hospital for medical assessment. Her current condition has not been made public.
In the midst of the official response, the spirit of the community was also on full display. Terrace RCMP noted that numerous people came forward during the incident, offering their personal canoes, life jackets, and boats to aid in the rescue. The detachment expressed its sincere gratitude for these offers, highlighting the community’s readiness to help in a crisis.
