Woman Critically Injured After Green River Accident Near Flaming Geyser State Park

ENUMCLAW, WA - A woman was seriously injured Tuesday afternoon after she fell off an inner-tube while floating down the Green River near Flaming Geyser State Park, according to the King County Sheriff's Office. The woman was floating the river with two friends, and all three were in distress. The woman was unconscious when she was pulled from the river. She was flown via helicopter to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle with life-threatening injuries, according to the sheriff's office.

King County's marine unit and Mountain View Fire responded to the Flaming Geyser area around 2:45 p.m. Tuesday. One woman in the group was separated, but was able to pull herself from the river. The other two floated farther downstream and were pulled out of the water by rescuers near a bridge.

This is the third water rescue in the area since Sunday. On Sunday evening, a teen presumably drowned while swimming near Olallie State Park near North Bend. The teen and another friend were swimming when they fell over a waterfall. King County crews were searching for the teen on Monday, but had to call off the search due to hazardous conditions along the Snoqualmie Rivere. That same day, Pierce County firefighters rescued a woman and her dog from the Nisqually river near Eatonville.

King County Sheriff's spokeswoman Sgt. Cindi West used Tuesday's incident to remind local residents that rivers and lakes are cold and dangerous, even if it's hot outside.

"Rivers are inherently dangerous. With winter’s heavy mountain snowpack, much of the Cascade Range is beginning to melt. Rivers in King County are expected to have cold, fast flows throughout the summer," she said. "Anyone swimming, rafting or tubing should wear a U.S. Coastguard approved lifejacket. Never float the river alone and always tell someone your route, and when and where you expect to put in and take out."

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