Train delays water rescue. Video from Brunswick, Maryland.

Article by WUSA9.com’s Kurt Brooks:

Rescue crews in Frederick County are being hailed as heroes this Memorial Day after saving the life of a kayaker in distress.

It all happened Monday morning on the Potomac River near the Brunswick Campgrounds.

The kayaker was fishing when his morning took a turn for the worse. When he threw out his anchor, the current swiftly dragged his kayak under water.

“The report that we got was there was one under water and four others trying to assist and maybe one of those was in trouble,” rescuer Nelson Smith said.

Friends helped keep his head above water as nearby campers looked on, and the rapid water rescue teams of Frederick County were called to help. But they were stopped on their way to the scene.

“It was difficult to get here, the CSX train had us blocked,” said Brunswick Fire Chief Roy Lipscomb.

“The train came down to stop at the crosswalk, started up, stopped, started up, stopped, then finally moved out of the way. About a twenty minute wait,” Smith said.

The road to the launching ramp in Brunswick crosses heavily used CSX tracks, and a freight train sat across the road Monday as rescuers responded. Frantic calls from the Frederick County Fire dispatch finally got the train moved, and rescuers could travel down the dusty road to the ramp.

Soon the boat launched and the victim was pulled from the water and transported back to shore for a medical checkup. Water rescue crews respond to dozens of calls along the river each year, and train crossing delays are not uncommon.

“Time is of the essence on water rescues, it takes us four or five minutes to get the boat hooked up, drive down here, then a few more minutes to get the boat launched, so you are looking at a ten minute time frame, then yo wait another 20 minutes for the train to clear, not a good thing,” Smith explains.

Fortunately, this kayaker was able to make it safely to shore, even though it took a lot longer than everyone hoped.

The Department of Family and Protective Services says more people drown between Memorial Day and Labor Day than during any other time of the year.