OH Firefighters Tell Public to Stay off River During Pandemic

March 23, 2020

The warning from the Kent Fire Department to stay away from the Cuyahoga River came following a weekend rescue of two kayakers whose boat overturned.

Source Record-Courier, Kent, Ohio

The Kent, OH, Fire Department issued a warning to the public following a rescue on the Cuyahoga River over the weekend: Stay off the water during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Kent Fire Department is asking the public to stay off the Cuyahoga River after the police department had to rescue someone on Saturday around 12:30 p.m. behind the Treno restaurant in Kent.

The firefighters said in a Facebook post on their page Saturday night they found one kayaker safe and another stranded on the island south of the Main Street bridge after being dumped out of their kayak.

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The kayaker was not injured but was cold. No firefighters were injured.

A rescue boat was deployed from Tannery Park with three rescue swimmers. The boat made it to the island and the kayaker brought safely back to shore.

Since the fire department is down several members now, including one firefighter who notified he had tested positive for coronavirus on Saturday and several more firefighters who are now self-isolating because they were exposed to the firefighter, the Kent Fire Department is asking people to stay off the river.

The river is also high right now due to recent heavy rain.

Firefighters from across Portage County came to help the rescue on Saturday, the department said. The fire department thanked the Portage County Water Rescue team for their efforts.

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