GRASS VALLEY, Calif. - If there's one thing a Carson City teenager learned this weekend, it's that a pool floatie doesn't stand a chance in a powerful rapid.
A rescue helicopter plucked a 15-year-old boy from the middle of the raging South Yuba River Saturday afternoon after he and two other teen boys tried -unsuccessfully - to ride a pool toy downstream.
The ordeal started when the floatie hit choppy waters, sending the trio flying in three directions. Two of the boys were hurled toward the shore, while one grabbed a rock in the middle of the river, about 50 feet from the water's edge, according to Washington Fire Department Chief Mike Stewart.
The teenager was able to perch on the rock and clutch a piece of mining-era steel drilled into the stone, but was stranded and could not be heard over the noise of the rapids.
There is no cell phone reception in the remote area, so an off-duty Bay Area sheriff's deputy who saw the stranded boy drove four miles into the town of Washington to find a land line and call for help.
About 15 rescuers responded.
"We could see he was healthy," Stewart said. "We took our time and positioned rescuers downstream in case anything did happen."
The two-hour effort ended when a California Highway Patrol helicopter lowered a rope and rescue harness to the boy and brought him back to shore amid a crowd of onlookers.
It was a team effort that included PG&E personnel, who tried to help control the waterflow by closing off the spillway on the Spaulding Dam. Officials usually only close spillways during a lengthy search for a cadaver.
This was the first swiftwater rescue of the year for the volunteer Washington Fire Department, but officials are urging people to stay out of the river.
Flows are at peak levels right now. The Yuba River was flowing at about 2,000 cubic feet per second Saturday - compared to an average of 45 cubic feet per second during the summer.
"We had a closer to average snowpack this year, and a long cool spring," Stewart said. "We're starting to see the effects."