The Bonneville County Sheriff's Office, Idaho Falls Fire Department and Swan Valley Fire helped three people from Utah to safety on Thursday after their boat capsized on the Snake River.Â
Dispatch received a call around 4:30 p.m. reporting two people and an overturned boat was floating in the river near Conant Access in Swan Valley, according to a news release from the sheriff's office. The caller said they threw the two people a rope, but they were unable to reach it.Â
Sheriff's deputies arrived with a boat and rescued the two people from the water. They learned there had been a third passenger, but this person had not been seen since the boat capsized.Â
The third occupant was located upstream by Swan Valley Fire after the occupant had managed to swim to shore.Â
Idaho Falls Fire Department Emergency Medical Services examined all three boat occupants. The only health concern was the potential onset of hypothermia.
"Even with extremely hot weather, water temperatures are still cold enough for the effects of hypothermia to affect your ability to self-rescue from the water," Sgt. Bryan Lovell, public information officer for the sheriff's office wrote in the news release.Â
None of the boat occupants were reportedly wearing life jackets when it capsized.
"The Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office reminds boaters and those recreating on our waterways to always wear your life jackets and plan for safety at all times," Lovell wrote. He later added, "Strong current at and below the surface can be very unpredictable and dangerous, no matter what level of water is present.  Your best protection to these unexpected hazards of water recreation is wearing a life jacket at all times."



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