White, Habersham first responders make dangerous river rescue Friday

PRESS RELEASE

WHITE COUNTY, Ga. — White County Fire was dispatched to a river rescue at approximately 9:50 a.m. Friday in the area of Buck Shoals on the Chattahoochee River.

Information received from the caller, who was also the victim, dispatchers had the location by pinging the phone through the Enhanced 911 System.  Units arrived on scene, and the caller was actually on the Habersham side of the river hanging on to a tree.   The victim advised that there was another person down river that was on the White County side.  Habersham Fire was called to assist the victim on their side of the river while Firefighters and DNR walked the river about 1 mile and found the second subject on the bank.

A party of three was actually going down the river together, which was unsafe due to high water levels from previous night’s rainfall.  No injuries to the victims or rescuers, and units were on scene for 3.5 hours.

The attached picture was from 2:30 p.m. Friday, and the water has receded since the rescue time.