Police in Twin Falls Remove Submerged Truck and Trailer From Boat Ramp

On Friday afternoon, the Twin Falls County Sheriff’s Office had to rescue a submerged truck and trailer from the boat dock area of Centennial Waterfront Park.

The boat dock was closed for around an hour to allow crews to remove the submerged truck and trailer.

TFCSO Remove Submerged Truck and Trailer From Centennial Boat Ramp

The Twin Falls County Sheriff’s Office (TFCSO) posted about the boat ramp closure on social media, along with a picture of the submerged truck and trailer.

Part of me wants not to write this as a news story because a similar situation happened to me last year at Murtaugh Lake. Except I was lucky, and my son was still in the truck and able to jump to the driver's seat and hit the brakes. We had finished a day at the lake, and I had backed up the trailer to the water, and then I got out to load the boat onto the trailer.

I hadn’t put the truck in park, and it started to roll backwards into the water as soon as I hooked up the boat. The best I can assume is that I had backed up, put it in drive to get the tires out of the water a little, and then left it in drive as I jumped out. The angle of the ramp kept the truck from creeping forward, but the angle and power of the truck wasn’t enough to keep it from slowly pulling backwards with the weight of the boat.

Boating is an expensive hobby, and little mistakes - like not putting the vehicle in park - can become disastrous and costly additions.

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There isn’t a lot of information on what happened in this situation. The truck could have been left in gear, or the ramp was slick, and the truck was not in 4x4 for added traction. Or, there’s always the possibility that the driver just misjudged where the water met the dry land.

The TFCSO recently posted a reminder to boaters that backing too far into the ramp area can lead to this kind of situation, as the ramp ends and there is an abrupt and steep drop-off that can suck a truck and trailer into the water.

It’s always a good idea to read the warning and rule signs when you visit Centennial Park.