Accident Database

Report ID# 3849

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Accident Description

 50-Year Old Man Drowns on Salmon River

LEWISTON, Idaho (AP) - A 50-year-old Washington state man has drowned while on a Boy Scout-sponsored whitewater rafting trip on the Salmon River in western Idaho. The Nez Perce County sheriff's office tells the Lewiston Tribune that Joseph R. Kane of Poulsbo, Washington, drowned Friday afternoon after he and his son were thrown from a raft. The rafting guides recovered Kane's son and then found Kane floating face down. Cpl. Jerry Florence estimated Kane had been in the water for 10 to 15 minutes.

Raft guides and passengers performed CPR for an extended period of time until emergency responders arrived at about 1:15 p.m. Friday. Kane was pronounced dead at the hospital in Lewiston.

http://www.kboi2.com/news/local/50-year-old-man-drowns-on-Salmon-River-265226351.html

Salmon River Drowning Victim Identified As Washington Man

Joseph R. Kane, 50, of Poulsbo, Wash., has been identified as the victim of a drowning on the Salmon River Friday afternoon, according to a news release from the Nez Perce County Sheriff's Office. Kane was participating in a whitewater rafting trip sponsored by the Boy Scouts of America. He was in a raft in the area of the Salmon River known as The Slide when he and his son were ejected. The raft guides recovered Kane's son and then found Kane floating face down in the water and unconscious. Cpl. Jerry Florence of the Nez Perce County Sheriff's Office estimated Kane had been in the water for 10 to 15 minutes before being recovered.

http://lmtribune.com/northwest/article_2a99d27b-54c0-5218-95cb-368adeeab25d.html#user-comment-area

Seattle Fire Dept. lieutenant dies in whitewater rafting accident; son survives

Seattle Fire Dept. Lt. Joseph R. Kane died in a whitewater rafting accident in Idaho.

LEWISTON, Idaho — Joseph R. Kane, 50, of Poulsbo, Wash., a lieutenant in the Seattle Fire Department, drowned while on a whitewater rafting trip on the Salmon River on Friday, authorities said Monday.

Kane was a passenger in a raft operated by Epley’s Whitewater Adventure in the area of the Salmon known as the Slide, the Nez Perce County Sheriff’s Office said Monday.. While navigating the Slide, Kane and his son were ejected in to the water. Epley’s raft guides recovered the son, then maneuvered to the back eddy below the Slide where the victim was found floating face down and unconscious.

The guides and several passengers, who had training as first-responders, immediately began CPR, the sheriff’s office said. They continued resuscitation efforts as they made their way to confluence of the Salmon and Snake Rivers, where they were picked up by a passing jet boat.

The owner of the boat transported the victim to Heller Bar, along with one of the guides and several members of the raft trip who were administering CPR. The victim was picked up by Med-Star and transported to St Joseph Regional Medical Center in Lewiston, Idaho, where he was pronounced deceased.

Kane was a firefighter for more than 20 years and was deeply respected by his colleagues. He’s being remembered as an amazing man and an excellent firefighter who served a number of duties and was the lieutenant of the engine 36 marine unit.

Funeral arrangements are under way.

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