1 drowns, 4 others rescued after being thrown from kayak in fast-moving Kern River

One person drowned and four others were rescued this week after they were thrown from their kayak into the swollen and fast-moving Kern River, Tulare County authorities said.

Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux says the county’s rivers and creeks are especially dangerous now because of the amount of water flowing downstream, the result of heavy rains this past winter.

Deputies responded to an emergency call in the Ant Canyon area near Kernville around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, authorities said in a news release. The five kayakers lost their equipment after they were thrown into the water.

Swiftwater rescue team members from the Tulare and Kern county sheriff’s departments worked together to pull four people out of the river while attempting to retrieve the body of the fifth, officials said. The person who drowned was not immediately identified.

The body of the person was found but remained in the river as of Thursday afternoon, said Sheriff’s Lt. Kevin Kemmerling. The person remained in the water craft, which was partially submerged in the rushing water and not easily accessible to the rescue teams.

“It is an extremely dangerous environment,” Kemmerling said.

Crews were trying to determine if they could recover the body, but they have also requested assistance from the California Air National Guard, Kemmerling said.

As of Friday, the body remained in the water in fast-moving current, said Ashley Schwarm, a spokesperson for the Sheriff’s Office.

“Right now, it is all dependent on the weather. We are looking for a cooling trend in the future forecast, which would put us” into next week Schwarm said. “It could be as long as a month before we can get in there. It all just depends on Mother Nature.”

The kayakers were considered professionals, Kemmerling said, and the area where they went into the water is considered Class 4 rapids, which experienced kayakers can usually navigate.

But as a result of winter downpours and a massive snowpack that is now melting, the water is colder and faster than usual and the public should avoid area waterways, authorities said.