Two people were rescued from the east side of Flathead Lake on Friday, July 19 after their boat sank unexpectedly.
One of the boaters was able to call 911 at 4:20 p.m. to report that their craft was sinking, and authorities used GPS to approximate the boat’s location, dispatching a pair of Lake County Search and Rescue boats from Polson. The boat’s occupants were located and rescued more than an hour later, at 5:35 p.m. Their submerged boat’s bow was spotted more than two miles from the east shore of the lake and pulled to Woods Bay.
Lake County Search and Rescue, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks all assisted in the rescue. FWP officials are still investigating the cause of the accident.
The two boaters were wearing life jackets when they were discovered but were apparently not wearing life jackets when their boat began to sink. The Lake County Sheriff’s Office warned in a press release that “Flathead Lake, and boating in general, can be very dangerous, and you should wear a life jacket at all times.”