The fire department rescued a woman and two dogs trapped on a sandbar at Eagle Beach Friday afternoon.
The fire department was not immediately available for comment, but Lt. Ryan Erickson, a spokesman with Coast Guard Sector Juneau, confirmed the woman and her pets were safely taken to shore by the fire department a little before 4:30 p.m.
Erickson said the woman, who is in her 20s, became trapped standing on a plateau that turned into an island as the tide came in.
Erickson said the water depth was about 10 feet, and reports on the scanner indicated she was about 200 yards from shore, although that could not be immediately confirmed.
The Coast Guard had advised her not to attempt to swim as they sent a 25-foot response boat to her aid, according to Erickson.
The fire department reached her before then and took her to shore.
Erickson said there weren’t any injuries.
• Contact reporter Emily Russo Miller at 523-2263 or at emily.miller@juneauempire.com.
Comments (17)
Add commentDerrrrrrrr.....
On a sandbar, rising tide, 10 feet from shore... Beyond the obvious point of avoiding the problem by paying attention, am I the only one that sees the obvious solution to getting off a sandbar that is 10 feet from shore?
On the scanner,
dispatch was advising responders that she was 200 yards offshore, according to on scene CG personnel. If so, calling for help was the prudent course of action. The best thing of course, would be to be aware of the tidal conditions before there is a problem.
@Logical
Hi there,
Thanks for commenting.
There was a slight mis-communication in one my phone interviews with the Coast Guard, but essentially the water depth was 10 feet. The police scanner indicated she was about 200 yards from shore, although I couldn't confirm that with anyone immediately. Please see the updated story.
Thanks,
Emily M.
Eagle Beach sand bar
Not the first Juneauite that's gotten stuck on that same sandbar, likely won't be the last either. I watched two sunbathers get rescued with a boat back in the sixties when I was a kid.
@ Emily
Thanks for the info. Story makes a lot more sense. My appologies for being snarky about the 10' distance from shore.
I dunno, Jack...
Six hours is a LONG time to tread water in ten feet of water. I wouldn't want to do it...
Good job FD and CG!
Oops!
Hi guys just wanted to say a BIG thank you to all the firemen who recused us. It was a total mistake that won't happen again we were just out playing ball out over the ridge and the tide came in really quick. I was afraid to cross the marsh because its so uneven and sticky and it was already over my boots when I realized we were in trouble. There was a native family on the beach who stayed until the rescue guys came. Thank you to them too. I don't know who you are but it helped me stay calm. 463-2000 safety people were all over it and great too.
It was a close one the water was rising fast and we had only a little bit of land to stand on when we got rescued. I'm really glad I didn't have to be out there another 6 hours. Dark and cold. ;(.
It was scary enough.... Us Alaskan have to stick together. Thank you again to everyone. I promise to be more careful from here out.
My dogs thank you tooooo. Xoxox
I feel that the right course
I feel that the right course of action was taken in this case.
I definitely wouldn't want to sit out there for 6 hours, like YukonJack mentioned. It's been a while since I've been to Eagle beach, but I don't recall there being any lights out there. So if her and her dogs would have waited for 6 hours, then it would have been pitch black out there, that seem like a stupid choice to me.
I'm glad she or someone else had a phone to contact the FD.
Glad you are safe
We were the native family who stayed till rescue came. She was bout 200 yards away and it was freezing cold out. Normally when you see someone in distress you respond and not think about costs or mistakes. My partner thought of wading across to meet her half way but then you have to think about the freezing temp of the water, sinking sand, currents that can pull you out and so on. The logical thing was to call for help. The water was rough and wind was cold so if you've ever been to Eagle beach at this time of winter you surely wouldn't want to wait 6 1/2 hours till its pitch dark out and freezing cold. Come on now ppl, someone got home to her family and is safe. There were 3 other concerned ppl who stayed the whole time too so we weren't the only ones who waited till rescue came. Glad you are safe ;)
I've been on the sandbar many
I've been on the sandbar many times over the years and find this really hard to believe. Plenty of places where you can just wade across. Yes you would get wet but soooo what. Call the fire dept? Good grief.
Some of my favorite memories
Some of my favorite memories at Eagle Beach involve racing the tide to shore. The tide water comes in fast there and, if you time your walk wrong, the incoming tide can take you by surprise. I am glad the woman was rescued and everything went well.
The tide
Note that the tide that afternoon was a big one - over 18 feet at 4:15 PM. What would have been wadeable many days, might not have been the case that day. And if you're not that familiar with the contour of the land, once the tide comes in, it's all flat water from above, so choosing the correct route to shore becomes a guessing game.
Everyone made the right call here. If a tragedy had occurred, the same peanut gallery voices would have been accusing her of terrible judgment.
We pay big money to have our emergency response services standing by 24/7. Make em earn their money once in awhile. They obviously did in this case - good on em.
For Anyone
who has lost a loved one because of weather related accidents, it makes you look at things like this and say who cares how it happened thank goodness everyone is OK. For people that actually do things outside of the house it is pretty easy to see how things can get out of control when it involves mother nature. Who wants to bet this will never happen to her again? Make a mistake, learn from it that is how life works.
@QT
Glad you are OK and you and your dogs are safe. That can be a tricky area and the tide comes in fast. I wouldn't have tried to swim that distance either, too much unknown and with the temps dropping etc., you could have faced hypothermia and that would not have been good. Thank you to akraven, a good deed done and hopefully the karma will be returned. To those so negative, I hope you are never in her situation.
Another reason to love Juneau and caring citizens. Looks like their are a few still left!
Glad everyone's ok!!!!
Glad everyone's ok!!!!