ALLEGAN COUNTY, Mich. — Around 3 p.m. on Thursday, Allegan County Central Dispatch received a call of overturned kayakers in the Kalamazoo River in Otsego Township. Several Allegan County agencies responded to the call to discover a group of 25 kayakers experiencing difficulty.
"There was 21 juveniles and four adults that were kayaking that day in the river, and I was told that they were spread throughout an area, approximately a half mile stretch," said Lieutenant John Paul Damveld of the Allegan County Sheriff's Office.
ACSO said the group left from a local kayak delivery and were making their way to the Towbridge Dam, and calls were received from the kayak delivery and other people in the area.
"When we receive these calls, we need immediate eyes on what's going on so they can give that information back. We're instantly putting our dive team in action to start responding," said Damveld.
He also said that Allegan County's Marine Patrol Unit is sent out on boats, along with the fire department, and EMS being on stand-by.
"Everyone immediately starts responding to that location and starts getting a game plan," he said.
Damveld said all kayakers were provided with lifejackets that they were properly wearing, which proved to be extremely helpful for responders. They said they were able to gather all of the stranded kayakers and reunite them at a nearby campground.
None of the kayakers were seriously injured.
"One of the major factors that leads to an incident that could happen like this is lack of experience, or understanding what the river could bring. The river changes constantly," said Damveld.
Damveld said that conditions on Thursday were typical for Kayaking, but encouraged some additional experience and increased caution when going down the Kalamazoo River.
"There's a lot of turns. There's a lot of fallen trees and debris in the in the river," said Damveld. "We do have some dams throughout the river in the county that you have to be aware of."
Assiting the Allegan County Sheriff's Office were central dispatch, the county's dive rescue team, marine patrol, the Otsego Police and Fire Department, along with Plainwell EMS and the Pinegrove Fire Department.
"Our sheriff's office and the dive team, and the marine patrol, did a phenomenal job as well as our other first responders," said Damveld. "They did a great job as well in assisting us, and we couldn't have done it without that teamwork."
