5 ejected from raft on Clear Creek, 2 treated for minor injuries

DENVER (KDVR) — A pair of 69-year-old women were taken to a hospital on Tuesday after they were ejected from a raft near Interstate 70 on Clear Creek.

Three other rafters were also ejected from the raft, which was part of a guided trip provided by a local rafting company, according to the Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Office.

The incident occurred on Tuesday near the “Five Bridges Rapids,” which the Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Office said was near I-70’s milepost 242.5, which is just east of the Veteran’s Memorial Tunnel.

Initially, crews were responding to reports of a possible drowning. However, the Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Office reported that upon arrival everyone had made it out of the water conscious and breathing.

Only minor injuries and possible hypothermia were reported by the rafters. Clear Creek EMS, Clear Creek Fire Authority and the Idaho Springs Police Department also responded to the incident.

This is far from the first swift-water rescue in Colorado this rafting season. Crews have been searching the Arkansas River in southern Colorado for a 19-year-old man who went missing on June 12. On Wednesday, a body was pulled from the river , although it has not been identified.

Clear Creek waterway activities, including tubing and single-chambered rafts, were limited on June 5 in Jefferson County, but those restrictions do not go into Clear Creek County.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the creek’s water levels have been dropping for nearly the past week, peaking on June 14 with 111 cubic feet of water per second measured at the nearby North Clear Creek. As of June 19, the water levels had dropped to about 45 cubic feet of water per second. Clear Creek near Lawson was measured at about 613 cubic feet of water per second on June 19, which is down from the past week.

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