EASTON, Pa. — After separate drownings of two people in the Delaware River over the last week and a half, officials continue to warn about rough river rapids.
One company that’s built its business on the Delaware, says it has several safety protocols in place, but often sees swimmers and waders out on the river without life jackets.
Twin Rivers Tubing has built its Easton-based business off a fun-filled 3-mile stretch of the Delaware River.
But the company says its foundation has always been safety.
“We’re checking the temperature, we check the wind, we’re always checking the weather,” Karin Stumpf, Twin Rivers Tubing Office Manager said. “We like, obsessively look at the radars.”
“If it’s going to be bad weather that day, Karin usually will call it off,” Mike Prieto, co-owner of the company, said.
“We have a boat on the water,” Stumpf added, “and then on weekends, we have boats, and usually one or two jet skis that constantly are up and down the river to check on our tubers.”
But among all the safety protocol, one of the biggest practices is also perhaps the simplest.
“We always say life jackets have to be on,” Stumpf said. “We personally fit them here.”
And that’s often the one thing staff say they often don’t see swimmers and waders wearing when they encounter them.
Prieto recalls all the times his business had to step in to save a swimmer or wader’s life.
“Last year we helped two kids. There was a boy, older boy, holding his brother up with no life jackets on. Got swept into the current and I could see the whole family waving me down,” he said. “We ran right over there with the boat, jumped in, grabbed the two kids and they were out of breath. The mother was so thankful.”
Prieto says he was out on the river last week: the day a fisherman was found in the Easton area of the Delaware River.
“Later on in the afternoon, an Easton police officer came down to me at Scott Park and asked me if I could get up there, since I’m already first one on the water,” Prieto said. “I said, I know exactly who it is and where they are.”
That was the first of two drownings in the Delaware River in just over the last week.
“It just makes you more nervous to be out on the river,” Prieto said. “And we keep pushing hard. Make sure you keep your life jackets on. Make sure you keep your life jackets on.”
As officials warn of the dangers of deceiving river rapids, which can get deeper than they look within one step, staff at Twin Rivers Tubing remind everyone to heed those warnings, and to altogether skip the swimming or wading.
“Really, I mean, if you can swim at a pool or through a sprinkler, you know, whatever it is,” Stumpf said. “But if you are planning on going to the river because we know that people will, I would highly recommend purchasing a good life jacket.”