Girl in ICU after raft accident
CHRIS PETERSON | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 5 months AGO
Chris Peterson is the editor of the Hungry Horse News. He covers Columbia Falls, the Canyon, Glacier National Park and the Bob Marshall Wilderness. All told, about 4 million acres of the best parts of the planet. He can be reached at [email protected] or 406-892-2151. | June 10, 2026 7:25 AM
A girl from Tucson, Arizona nearly drowned in a rafting accident on the Middle Fork May 28. A GoFundMe campaign has been set up to cover medical expenses.
According to the GoFundMe narrative, Evie Scoville, 17, was submerged for approximately 10 minutes until she was rescued by her boyfriend and his family, “despite raging waters and risk to themselves.”
She then received 45 minutes of CPR from his family and nearby EMTs before being airlifted to Kalispell for emergency medical treatment.
The accident was part of a Great Northern Raft Co. excursion. The company did not immediately respond to a request for more details on the incident.
Flathead County Sheriff Brian Heino on Monday confirmed there were multiple water incidents in the past week.
From May 25 to June 4 there were six watercraft incidents, he noted in an email to the Hungry Horse News.
Rivers swelled with runoff after heavy rains last week and emergency personnel said the accident was at the Bonecrusher Rapid and happened between 2 and 3 p.m. ALERT flew the girl to the hospital.
On that same day, a person in a kayak who went under also had to be rescued.
Scoville as of presstime was in an induced coma and receiving treatment for her injuries, though she has been improving, according to reports on the GoFund Me page, which is here: www.gofundme.com/f/support-evies-recovery-journey
Last week was a busy one for emergency personnel. Multiple fire departments responded to an accident on Highway 2 after a car ran head-on into a propane truck, injuring three near Marias Pass. The driver of the truck was uninjured.
This story has been corrected to reflect the correct date of the accident and the hometown of Scoville.
ARTICLES BY CHRIS PETERSON
$8.5M Columbia Falls senior housing project OK’d
$8.5 million Columbia Falls senior housing project OK’d
The Montana Department of Commerce announced last week that Columbia Falls was one of several communities statewide to receive grants to build affordable senior housing.
For Nelson, computers and music merge
Adam Nelson has been playing music and tinkering with computers since he was a kid growing up in Columbia Falls.