Grandfather, two children rescued from Smith River

A local man and his two grandchildren were rescued by authorities after their boat was swamped during a fishing trip on the Smith River on Thanksgiving.

Their names were unavailable on Friday.

The grandfather made a call to authorities from his cell phone at about 2:30 p.m. after his boat’s motor died and began taking on water about a half mile below the  boat ramp off Fred Haight Drive, said sheriff’s Deputy Tim Wiley.

“They were in swift water,” Wiley said. “It pushed them right into trees.”

The boat eventually became fully submerged in water in an area where it was difficult to manuever or be sighted, Wiley said.

The Sheriff’s Office Marine Patrol Unit responded with jet skis and passed the three fishers a couple of times before receiving another call from the grandfather, who provided better details about their location.

Wiley had a tough time navigating the strong current and ended up having to drive through trees to get to them.

“They were clinging onto a tree and standing on their boat,” said Wiley. “They did the right thing by just staying where they were. If they tried to move it could’ve killed them.”

By about 3:30 p.m., all three passengers were pulled from the boat safely.

“The good thing is they got home safe and hopefully they had a good Thanksgiving dinner,” said Wiley.