RAINIER -- Bystanders used a fishing pole, rope and a cooler to undertake a harrowing rescue when 72-year-old Harold Caulfield fell into the cold waters of the Columbia River following a fishing trip Friday.
Harold, of Rainier, spent nearly 20 minutes clinging for his life to the bowline of a boat at the Rainier Marina before being pulled to safety.
“He could have drowned right there, if he’d let go of that boat,” Caulfield’s brother and fishing partner, 68-year-old Larry Caulfield, said.
Cold weather had spurred the Caulfield brothers to head to shore just before 2 p.m., and Harold Caulfield stayed with the boat after dropping Larry off at the marina’s dock to retrieve the brothers’ truck. By the time Larry reached his vehicle, he noticed the boat floating in the water without his brother and rushed toward the water to find him.
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According to a Rainier Police Department press release, Harold Caulfield slipped and fell in the water while walking his boat up the marina’s ramp.
Jim Nicklous had been fishing on the dock next to the Caulfields’ boat at the time. Nicklous said he didn’t see or hear anyone fall, but turned around to see the boat drifting into the river with the elder Caulfield hanging onto the bowline.
Nicklous says he can’t swim well and had nothing but a fishing pole in his hands. But he knew he had to do something.
“I had to get him out, you gotta react,” Nicklous said. He cast his fishing line and snagged a rope at the bow of the boat.
Nicklous managed to hold the boat in place with his line -- tested to withstand only 15 pounds of pressure -- but couldn’t pull it closer.
“It’s just hard for me to comprehend,” Larry said. “How that (fishing line) held, I don’t know.”
A nearby Rainier public works employee radioed for help, but a train delayed assistance. Nicklous felt helpless.
“I didn’t think (Caulfield) was going to be able to hold on that long,” Nicklous said.
Eventually, another public works employee arrived with a rope. Rescuers tied a cooler to the end of the rope and a Rainier police officer threw the improvised flotation device to Caulfield.
According to his brother, Harold Caulfield emerged from the water “pale” and “tired,” and rescuers replaced his wet clothes with their own dry garments.
He was taken by ambulance to St. John Medical Center with non life-threatening injuries, according to a Rainier Police Department press release. Bystanders said ambulance crews said they expected Caulfield would be “fine” after he warmed up.
Larry Caulfield praised Nicklous and others who responded to the incident.
“He held his cool and kept talking to Harold,” Larry said of Nicklous. “I couldn’t do it. He really displayed his abilities.”
Justin Pittman covers Longview and Kelso school districts, Lower Columbia College and Columbia County (Oregon) for The Daily News. Reach him at 360-577-2523 or jpittman@tdn.com