Kayakers in Tennessee, including children as young as 5, were rescued after their tour group became stranded in the middle of a growing storm.
The Haletown Volunteer Fire Department was dispatched to the Nickajack Cave Wildlife Area for a “massive water rescue” around 8:24 p.m. Monday, according to the department.
Thirty-three kayakers – 25 adults and eight children, including children as young as five – were left stranded amid strong winds and rough waters as a storm brewed.
Firefighters were assisted by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA), Puckett EMS and the Marion County Sheriff’s Office in the daring rescue. No injuries were reported, according to authorities.
The Nickajack Cave area is a popular tourist destination to see gray bats roosting to give birth to their young in the warmer months.
A group of kayakers (not pictured) in Tennessee were rescued from the Nickajack Cave Wildlife Area Monday night.
The Haletown Volunteer Fire Department was dispatched to the Nickajack Cave Wildlife Area for a “mass water rescue” around 8:24 p.m.
The tour group had earlier taken off from the Macedonia Road boat ramp and paddled toward the cave, which is popular with tourists for its annual bat sightings.
The tour group had taken off from the Macedonia Road boat ramp Monday night and paddled across the lake toward Nickajack Cave, according to the TWRA.
They were “quickly challenged” by “harsh conditions” which caused some people to fall into the water.
The kayakers were transported to shore by TWRA officers after a New Hope Fire Department rescue boat capsized due to strong gusts.
All of the kayakers were wearing life jackets, which may have saved their lives, the TWRA said.
According to Stephen Ware, spokesman for the Haletown Volunteer Fire Department, Monday’s rescue was the largest-scale water rescue in Marion County’s recorded history.
speaking to Local news 3Ware said the tour group should never have gone out in such turbulent conditions.
“In fact, the water was so shallow that at some points the waves reached a height greater than the depth of the water when the water was completely calm,” he said.
However, Ware admitted that the kayakers “did the right thing.”
“They stayed where they were, called for help, let us come out and get them out,” he said.
The tour group quickly faced “harsh conditions” that caused some kayakers to fall from their boats.
A spokesperson for the Haletown Volunteer Fire Department said the tour group should never have gone out on the water in the first place.
All of the kayakers were wearing life jackets, which may have saved their lives amid the brutal conditions.
Nickajack is one of the most important caves in the Tennessee Valley, serving as a maternity roost for gray bats.
Nickajack Cave historically served as a refuge for Native Americans and a hideout for river pirates.
During the Civil War, both the Union and the Confederacy mined the cave for saltpeter, a key ingredient in gunpowder.
Nickajack is one of the most important caves in the Tennessee Valley, serving as a maternity roost for gray bats.
Pregnant females arrive in spring to give birth to a single offspring, and the reservoir provides the bats with a constant source of food as they consume thousands of insects each night.
The cave was fenced in 1981 to protect the bats from human intrusion and reduce the spread of white-nose syndrome, a fungal disease that can kill at least 95 percent of a colony in just two years, according to the TWRA.
In 1992, the agency designed Nickajack as the state’s first no-game wildlife refuge.