A Barnhart-area woman floating on the Big River near the Jefferson County portion of Eureka and House Springs sustained injuries after she was separated from her brother on July 14.
High Ridge Fire Protection Chief John Barton said his crews were dispatched to Rockford Park in House Springs at 5:24 p.m. Barton said the woman’s brother called 911 to report his sister was missing and unaccounted for.
The siblings began their float trip at Rockford Park with the intent to float to Byrnes Mill City Park when the pair became separated, Barton said. The brother waited at the park to see if his sister would pass by before eventually making his way back to Rockford Park.
The woman, in her late 40s, was located about a mile south of where the Meramec River and Big River meet at 6:12 p.m.
“The female was unfamiliar with the area, and she wound up passing Byrnes Mill City Park and continuing downriver,” Barton said. “When she continued floating past Byrnes Mill City Park, at one part of the river, she got caught in the current and pushed into some trees. She wasn’t able to walk on her knee at the time and required assistance.”
The woman was transported to Byrnes Mill Park and checked out by Big River Ambulance District crews. Barton said she was transported to St. Clare Hospital in Fenton for further treatment.
Eureka and Cedar Hill fire protection districts assisted on the scene, Barton said, with Eureka Fire’s crew pulling the woman from the water.
High Ridge Fire’s two boats and Eureka Fire’s boat were placed at various parts of the Big River and Meramec River to locate the woman.
“We put three different boats in at three different locations along the river,” Barton said. “We had a boat put in at Rockford Park and Byrnes Mill Park, and then we had Eureka put their boat in the water at Route 66 State Park which is off the Meramec (River). It’s difficult to know how far she had traveled in that amount of time, so we put boats in several locations so we could search several parts of the river at the same time.”
Deputy Chief William Stamberger said Eureka Fire’s boat was damaged during the search. He said the damage wasn’t significant and could be fixed.
“The boat was stuck in the water with debris,” Stamberger said. “That’s the nature of the game some of the times with these waters – it can be high where we’ve got all kinds of junk in the water, or it can be low and we’re running across rocks. It can be a challenge in any condition, really.”
Barton said the woman was unfamiliar with the area when she embarked on the float trip.
“I was speaking with her afterward and she said she had never been to the river at that spot before,” Barton said. “That’s why she wound up passing where she was supposed to exit the river.”