SEAVIEW A young Arizona man was swept out to sea by strong ocean currents Sunday night about a mile south of Seaview. He was in a group of people playing in the surf at about 10 p.m. when he was caught in a rip current, according to Doug Knutzen, a member of the Pacific County Technical Surf Rescue Team.

The others in the group had left the water after they began drifting to the south, he said, and one had returned to attempt to help his friend. 

He felt the strong current and decided he couldnt help, Knutzen said, and he called 911.

It was reported that the man had been in the water but was no longer in sight at 10:15 p.m. Pacific County surf rescue immediately launched two boats and began a search.

A Coast Guard MH-60 helicopter crew from Astoria and a 47-foot motor lifeboat crew from Cape Disappointment also were deployed, arriving on scene at about 10:50 p.m.

The man was not wearing a lifejacket. His name is not being released, pending notification of next of kin. The search was suspended at 10 a.m., Monday

Knutzen said the rescue team searched Sunday night until it became too dark, then went to the Beards Hollow area with flashlights where they searched the beach and rocks on foot until about midnight. The team continued to search the entire area until about 8 a.m., Monday.

Besides the search and rescue operation on Sunday, law enforcement and fire personnel were kept hopping over the long weekend.

Thanks to a grant from the Washington State Traffic Safety Commission, law enforcement agencies were emphasizing traffic patrols over the weekend. Officers were busy, Pacific County Sheriffs Office Chief Criminal Deputy Pat Matlock said. He said the stops were mostly routine, the normal Fourth of July stuff … nothing really serious.

Matlock added that officers were patrolling the beaches, warning people about the dangers of rip currents and of going into the ocean, but, he said, we cant make them leave.

Pacific County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Jim Bergstrom said the emphasis was very successful. We made a lot of contacts with drivers and a lot of stops. We covered the entire county. Everybody got some attention.

According to Chief Jacob Brundage, Pacific County Fire District 1 responded to 36 incidents from July 1 to July 4. Twenty-seven of the calls were for emergency medical services, resulting in 23 patients being transported to area hospitals. Nine calls were for fire services, including three grass fires and two structure fires. Out of the 36 total incidents, six were fireworks related (five fires and one injury), Brundage said.