Boundary County Excellence: BFPD officers honored after water rescue
BONNERS FERRY — Two Bonners Ferry police officers received the Life Saving Award at the Sept. 19 city council meeting — the second life saving award the officers have earned this year.
On July 14, Bob Boone, a Bonners Ferry resident, was kayaking on Kootenai River with his wife, when his vessel capsized.
“I was paying too much attention to fishing and not enough attention to the water conditions,” he said on Sept. 19 at the Bonners Ferry City Council. “Lo and behold, I got my kayak turned toward the front right before hitting a submerged log.”
He hit the log broadside and, before he knew it, had capsized with his kayak on top of him.
“By the time I was able to fight the kayak off along with the current, my wife [Cheryl Boone] was about 30 yards downstream,” he said.
Fortunately, he had his life vest on and was able to swim to Cheryl and the shoreline near Fodge Pulp. Boone was unable to get back into his kayak and couldn’t pull himself up onto a log because of the current, nor could he touch the bottom of the river, he said.
Cheryl Boone was able to call 911 on her mobile phone, which she had stowed in a plastic bag.
Around 3:40 p.m., BFPD officers Scott Davis and Brandon Johnson were working patrol when a call for a water rescue on the Kootenai River about five miles east of Bonners Ferry, outside city limits, BFPD Sgt. Willie Cowell wrote in a report.
Boone was reported clinging to a small branch in the sturgeon habitat pilings with his head above water, Cowell wrote. It was reported Boone had lost his strength and could not free himself from the current, which was getting stronger.
“Had [Boone] lost his grip, or the branch he was clinging to broke, the current would have carried him underneath the sturgeon habitat pilings to his almost certain demise,” Cowell wrote.
Davis and Johnson without prompting, and with only an approximate location, responded to the area and were able to navigate across a tract of private farmland off District 2 Road, getting approximately within 100 feet of the river, officials wrote.
Once there the officers split in opposite directions and crossed the thick brush covering the riverbank.
Cowell said the decision to split up was made due to the slim chance hope of locating the gravely jeopardized kayakers without a more precise location.
With his river throw rope in hand, Davis located the Boones and notified dispatch of his impending rescue. He then removed his body armor, gun belt and made his way across the buoyant piling to the Boones.
“At this point, Officer Davis placed himself in grave danger,” Cowell said, noting that Davis did not have a life vest, and has admitted that he is not a powerful swimmer. By stripping his patrol gear, he had no communications to call for aid if he were to fall into the swift undercurrent.
Davis made contact with Boone, who was then tethered with the rescue rope to a log while Davis maneuvered to an anchoring point and efforts to extract Boone from the river began. As Davis was executing the rescue, Officer Johnson arrived to the rescue site.
Johnson had crossed approximately half a mile on foot after hearing Davis’ last radio transmission. Johnson also stripped himself of his vest and gun belt before crossing the pilings to assist in pulling Robert Boone and then Cheryl Boone and the trapped kayaks from the river.
Johnson sustained an injury to his left leg and ankle when he partially fell through the pillings.
“Their timely response, geographical understanding and knowledge of the county and ability to perform under high-stress; making split second intuition decisions, without a doubt staved off a tragic end to this life saving incident,” Cowell wrote in a report recommending Davis and Johnson receive the award.
Boone commended the officers’ actions, as well as those of the BFPD and dispatch, as the pair received their Life Saving Awards. He added they were able to find him and his wife by land before search and rescue.
All the efforts of law enforcement and their coordination was in the highest traditions of the law enforcement profession, Boone said.
“I’ve spent 32 years of my life wearing the uniform and I couldn’t be more proud and also very humbled,” he said regarding having his life saved.
Davis was named officer of the year in 2022 and Johnson received the honor in 2021. In March 2023, Johnson and Davis also received Life Saving Awards stemming from acts of heroic service in 2022.
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Boundary County Excellence, is a column at the Bonners Ferry Herald which features community members that inspire others whether through accomplishments, community service or life experiences. If you know someone who is an example of Boundary County Excellence, email us at news@bonnersferryherald.com.
