Seven injured as boat slams into rocks

By Ethan Smith

Leader Staff

Seven people were injured, two seriously, after the boat they were riding in slammed into some rocks near Black Point in the middle of the night, following the Fourth of July fireworks show last week.

The county's search and rescue team, Polson fire and Sheriff's deputies responded to different points on the east and west shorelines, following a 911 call that came in at 1:27 a.m. July 5, after the boat's driver called to say they'd hit some rocks. The driver told dispatch they were heading to Big Arm, but didn't know where exactly they were.

A half hour later, search and rescue teams and Polson firefighters found the boat in Cat Bay, off Kings Point Road, almost completely out of the water.

The boat had struck a small island of rocks, and ended up resting on top of one of them. When search and rescue crews arrived, they found five of the boaters inside the boat, after two of them had already been transported to area hospitals.

"We found a boat on what I'd call a 'rock island,' almost completely out of the water. The rock that the boat had landed on was in shallow water that was only knee-deep," said Tara Carvey, logistics officer for the county's SAR team.

A female with more serious injuries was Lifeflighted out, and Polson firefighters, operating the department's boat, transported a man with more serious injuries to shore. Meanwhile Carvey, her husband Steve and Ryan Schwend — all SAR members — treated the remaining five patients who were still in the boat. Polson firefighter Chris McGinnis had also arrived on scene and was treating them for injuries.

Carvey said most of the boaters appeared to be in their 20s or 30s. They had apparently watched the fireworks show in Polson, and then headed north later that night, in what McGinnis described as one of the darkest nights on the lake he'd encountered in a long time.

Carvey said the other five patients suffered back injuries and lacerations, but were otherwise OK. They were transported to shore using the county SAR boat, where they were helped into waiting ambulances. Carvey said they appeared pretty shook up, given the circumstances of slamming into rocks in total darkness.

The boat did not appear to be equipped with a spotlight, and alcohol was a factor in the wreck.

"It was a pretty traumatic wreck," she said.