MATAMORAS, P.A. — A person reported missing in the Delaware River on the afternoon of July 4 was found alive about a mile downstream after a multi-agency search involving emergency responders from Pennsylvania and New York.
According to the Matamoras Fire Department, the Matamoras and Westfall dive teams were dispatched at about 1:30 p.m. to a report of two people in the Delaware River who were not wearing life jackets.
Shortly after the initial dispatch, the City of Port Jervis Fire Department and Orange County mutual aid resources were requested to assist. While emergency crews were en route, Pike County Communications advised that one of the two people was missing in the river.
Rescue boats from Matamoras and Westfall were launched within minutes and were joined by boats from the Port Jervis and Sparrowbush fire departments. As crews searched the river, responders spoke with the missing person’s friends, who said he had gone underwater and they feared he had drowned.
The operation immediately shifted to a possible water rescue and recovery.
Moments later, responders were notified that the missing individual had been located about one mile downstream after being pulled from the river by others.
The rescued person was transported to the command post at the #2 Bridge Beach, where he was reunited with his friends.
The Matamoras Fire Department said the individual was not wearing a life jacket when he entered the water.
The department used the incident to remind the public that the Delaware River’s current can be stronger than it appears and urged anyone recreating on the river to wear a properly fitted life jacket.
The successful rescue involved personnel from the Matamoras Fire Department, Westfall Township Fire Department, Port Jervis Fire Department, Sparrowbush Fire Department, Orange County mutual aid agencies and Pike County Communications.
No additional information about the rescued individual’s condition was released.
Image Credit: Upper Delaware Council