7 people rescued from Puyallup River, officials say

First responders from around Pierce County rescued seven people who got into trouble while floating the Puyallup River on Wednesday afternoon.

Crews were dispatched about 4:30 p.m. to the river near the Sumner water treatment plant, 13114 63rd St. E., according to East Pierce Fire & Rescue.

Of the people who were rescued, two were in the water, and two small children wearing life jackets were on an inner tube, East Pierce Fire announced in a Twitter post. The group was rescued about 5 p.m.

Pierce County sheriff's spokesman Gary Sanders, a member of the department's swift-water rescue team, said the people were on rafts and inner tubes tied together when some began to lose air.

Sanders advised against tying rafts or inner tubes together when floating rivers.

"If one goes down, it's going to pull all of them — or if it gets caught in a strainer, really, really bad stuff can happen," Sanders said.

"It's not like Wild Waves, where you can turn off the water pressure. The river is relentless. It never recedes."

This story was originally published June 20, 2018 at 4:51 PM with the headline "7 people rescued from Puyallup River, officials say."