Three people got dumped into the frigid waters of the Crow Wing River Saturday evening when their canoe capsized in fast moving water.

All three got out of the river, two of them saved by rescuers using the Nebulus rescue flotation devices that the Staples Fire and Rescue Department obtained in recent months.

Fire Chief Scott Braith, after describing the incident, said, "It's a good feeling to have those available and to put them to use."

Wadena County Sheriff Mike Carr said his office was called at 7:29 p.m. regarding a capsized canoe in the river near Bullard's Bluff, about 13 miles north of Staples.

The reporting party told sheriff's dispatchers that all the parties were now out of the river but on the other side. The fire department was also notified and responded to the area.

A Wadena County deputy, prior to arrival on the scene, picked up the first victim, Vickie Tester, 52, of Brainerd, about 1-1/2 miles from the scene where she had gone to make the call for help after getting out of the river.

On the scene, rescuers found two men, one stranded on a hammock surrounded by water, the other on the opposite or east bank on of the Crow Wing.

Four members of the Staples Fire Department deployed their Nebulus devices and were able to retrieve the second victim, Patrick Tester, 45, of Brainerd, from a swampy area on the river where he was standing on the hammock, according to the deputy's report.

The third victim, Alvin Tester, 53, of Staples, was on the opposite side of the river. The Staples Fire Department used their boat to access this victim.

All three victims were treated at the scene by Staples Ambulance. It was reported that their canoe had gotten sideways in the strong current and tangled up in some tree branches. The canoe capsized and the parties went into the river. From the time of the capsizing to when the last victim was rescued was a total of roughly 2-1/2 hours. The deputy reported the water temperature at the time of the rescue was about 50 degrees.

Braith reported that Darren Holst, Jeff Berg, Brad Schneider and Don Brusewitz donned cold water wet suits and each grabbed a corner of the Nebulus, which is a heavy duty, inflatable raft-like device and walked out to retrieve Patrick Tester. Alvin Tester was brought to the west side of the river in the fire department's boat manned by Kyle Braith and Jeff Kobliska.

The incident happened not far from the Bullard Bluff Campground in Bullard Township.

Chief Braith advised that it might be wise for canoeists to wait a few more weeks for the water to warm up and also for the river to return to more normal water levels.