Raft flips in Eagle River

EAGLE ” A raft flipped on some rapids Thursday morning and dumped a group of people into the Eagle River.

No one was injured, said Deputy Chief Chris Blankenship of the Greater Eagle Fire Protection District.

The raft flipped after it went through “Dead Cow,” a stretch of roller coaster-like rapids between Eagle and Wolcott, Blankenship said.

Occupants of other rafts on the trip helped everyone get out of the water before authorities arrived.

Dead Cow is typically considered Class III in difficulty on a scale of one, the easiest, through six, the most difficult.

Blankenship did not know the name of the rafting company or how many people fell into the river. A spokeswomen for the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office could not immediately comment.

Greater Eagle firefighters, whose jurisdiction is western Eagle County, have responded to almost a half-dozen reported boating accidents on the Eagle River in the last several weeks, Blankenship said. Three rafts flipped near the Eagle County Fairgrounds earlier this month and spilled 19 people into the river.

“The warm weather is definitely getting people out and about, and the water’s coming up,” Blankenship said. “So just (the) usual precautions need to be taken.”