Boaters injured in Farm Island accident

WRANGELL - Emergency assistance was dispatched from Wrangell early Sunday evening, after a private boat struck a log near Farm Island.

Fire Department Chief Tim Buness said emergency dispatch received a 911 call from one of the boat”s passengers at 5:23 p.m. Responders were notified and an initial unit was ready to depart within minutes.

“We sent a float plane up with three medics on board,” Buness said. He estimated it took about twenty minutes to arrive at the scene. “We also sent one of the bigger boats with Alaska Vistas with more EMTs (Emergency Medical Technicians).”

The accident site was off the lower part of Farm Island, about nine miles north of Wrangell. “It was definitely in the tidal zone,” Buness commented.

A boat carrying five Petersburg residents had struck a log, injuring several. One of those aboard was carried back by plane for emergency medical treatment and transported from Wrangell to Seattle for further care. The other four passengers were returned on the rescue boat to be treated at Wrangell Medical Center, with two admitted for care.

The names and conditions of those involved in the accident were unavailable, and

Alaska State Troopers are

investigating the cause of the incident.

Buness said he was glad the team was able to get out there so quickly, and that the water had been agreeably calm.

“It was a well-run call,” he said. Buness further commended the passenger that first called 911, who also stayed on the line with the dispatcher and helped direct responders to the scene.