Two Kayakers, Fire Fighter Rescued from Treacherous Yakima River Dam

Wanawish Dam is on the Yakima River near Horn Rapids, and Monday it was the site of a water rescue. The dam is used to pull irrigation water.

  2 men pulled from water by BCSO

Around 1:30 PM, the Benton County Sheriff's Department sent their jet boat onto the Yakima River just downstream from the dam, to rescue a firefighter who had earlier helped pull two men from the water.

The BCSO said the two were kayakers, they got too close to the dam and pulled over the spillway. The Wanawish Dam is used to pull irrigation water, and the spillway is less than five feet tall, but the current is strong.

The water spills over but creates a back current that can pin objects, small boats or people against  the structure. The  BCSO was able to rescue the firefighter. Earlier, Benton County Fire Districts 2 and 4 had rescued the men, but then the firefighters' rescue craft itself became stuck and partially submerged.

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The fireman was safely pulled onto the boat, over the next day or two the Fire Districts plan to retrieve their rescue craft.

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