One person is dead after the Cleveland Dam in North Vancouver opened and sent a rush of water into the Capilano River.
Metro Vancouver spokesperson Don Bradley told Daily Hive that the dam’s gate opened during maintenance Thursday afternoon, releasing a large volume of water into the river.
The dam was closed again within the hour, and Metro Vancouver will be doing a thorough investigation into what caused the failure, Bradley said.
BC Emergency Health Services received a 911 call just before 2 pm and sent out three ambulances. Nobody was transported to hospital, and the BC Coroner’s Service confirmed to Daily Hive that one person died.
Firefighters and RCMP officers responded to the scene and searched for people along the river. BC EHS said paramedics treated four patients at the scene — two who were able to swim to shore on their own and two more who a spokesperson said were in “stable condition.”
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Local Christine Tam who was near the Cleveland Dam around 2 pm shared a video of the water flowing through it during the malfunction.
Video from the Cleveland Dam malfunction today in North Vancouver @GlobalBC @CTVVancouver @CBCVancouver I was walking my dogs there just before 2pm pic.twitter.com/Edsf6wqmWB
— Christine Tam (@christinetam) October 2, 2020
Firefighters left residents with a cautionary message about the fast-moving water.
“Local river water levels are high with fast currents that can change without warning,” DNV Fire Rescue tweeted. “Please stay out of the water and always remember to wear a PFD is you are enjoying the outdoors near our rivers.”
Our Firefighters are conducting a rescue on the Capilano River. Local river water levels are high with fast currents that can change without warning. Please stay out of the water and always remember to wear a PFD is you are enjoying the outdoors near our rivers. pic.twitter.com/dmYzNvftqB
— DNV Fire Rescue Services (@DNVFRS) October 1, 2020
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