Albany Fire Department crews rescued two transients from high water at a Simpson Park campsite on Wednesday morning.
One of the two people, who were camped along Simpson Park Trail, used a cell phone to call 9-1-1 after rising waters of the Willamette River left them stranded on an island as the river flowed into First and Second Lakes.
Albany Fire responded shortly after 10:30 a.m. with its two newest rescue watercraft, locating the man and woman less than a half-mile from the entrance to the park. The couple were brought to the parking lot within 45 minutes of the call, according to Assistant Albany Fire Chief Shane Wooton.
The man and woman were taken by ambulance to Albany General Hospital.