A group of men who needed to be rescued from the Capilano River last weekend visited a North Vancouver firehall Saturday to thank the firefighters who helped save them.
Four men came bearing boxes of doughnuts and shook the hands of the first responders who came to their aid after their late-night tubing trip went sideways.
“We’d be lost without them, literally,” said Jason.
Five people went tubing down the river on Sunday and come nightfall couldn’t get out of the canyon on their own.
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Firefighters battled the dark of night and rough terrain to bring five of the seven tubers to safety.
“It was like an angel coming and grabbing us,” Jason said. “Thank God they’re here.”
The two other tubers managed to make it out of the water on their own.
District of North Vancouver Fire and Rescue Asst. Fire Chief Chad Laforet said meeting with people they have rescued helps give them a sense of closure.
“It does mean a lot to us when people go out of their way like these individuals did, to search us out in the fire station and say thank you and shake our hands,” he said.
– With files from Jon Hall and Jordan Armstrong