The Kalamazoo River was high and fast Tuesday when a pair of kayaks ran into trouble. An unidentified woman went into the rushing water, and her male companion went in to help her.

The Plainwell Department of Public Safety was dispatched at 4 p.m. yesterday to rescue both of them; they called in the Cooper Township Fire Department.

Bill Bomar, director of the Plainwell Public Safety Department, said the current was too extreme for their small, inflatable boat and the sheriff’s office boats are still winterized and not available, so they called Yankee Springs Township Fire Department to bring their fire/rescue boat.

 “They responded in a timely manner and did a good job,” Bomar said.

The couple had made it to one of three small islands in the river which creates its own turbulence.

“They were extremely lucky. They had a cell phone, otherwise they would have been left screaming for help,” he said.

The couple was checked by waiting ambulance personnel; the woman had a laceration that was treated but other than that, they were fine, Bomar said.