President's Day L.A. River Rescue

Hey, kids, let's look at a Swift Water Rescue...

Here's the deal: there are two people down there...

The partially hidden man on the left and his girlfriend Isis await a rescue they didn't want. Isis says they have lived on these island berms for over seven years. Neither the man nor Isis wanted us (the passers-by, out for a bicycle ride on President's Day) to contact authorities, even though they could not get to the bank of the L.A. River without risking proverbial life and limb. Every year sweeps of the islands are performed by LAPD and Parks & Recreation (along with other government agencies) to get homeless people off the islands before the storms arrive and carry them down to their violent deaths, via debris striking them (or via them striking cement abutments, etc. that are in the river) as they are swept away or by drowning. The speed of the undertow is always faster than the top waters...

Against the stranded couple's wishes, we contacted ASK-LAPD and explained the situation. Slender Islands oft go under, to not call would be a blunder...

Soon rescue crews arrived, including L.A. & Glendale Fire, Swift Water Rescue, LAPD, helicopters and curious onlookers...

After driving their big rigs (and smaller support vehicles) onto the bike path, crews gear up and go on down...

The Pontoon Posse prepares for the plunge!

Places everybody!

Fire and Rescue asked us to move away from the area a number of times. We obliged around ten yards at a time, until the LAPD officers on scene barked at us to get out, so we were forced to withdraw south to near the base of the Los Feliz Blvd. bike overpass. The pic above shows the pontoon boat after it ferried the reluctant couple back to safety, or at least off the vulnerable slip of island.