It was a calm start but things got a bit rowdy for “Rafting Gone Wild.” Toward the end of the day, firefighters treated one woman hurt from mud-wrestling. Firefighters say one man was rescued from the water who’d apparently consumed too much alcohol and may have been suffering from severe hypothermia.

By the end of the day, a Sacramento County Sheriff’s helicopter helped clear people out of Riverbend Park as deputies and Rancho Cordova Police managed crowd control and broke up several fights.

Katie Kennedy of Concord heard about the event on Facebook and said it became a “must do” event for many young people from as far away as San Jose. “Mud Island always calls for a little bit of mud wrestling. It’s just the way it is. Lotta girls wanna get in on it. Kind of the place to be at the time,” she said, referring to so-called Gilligan’s Island along the river where hundreds of kids gathered to party and even mud wrestle.

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A series of dramatic river rescues about 10 days ago may have set the tone for the 4th of July holiday weekend.  Some avoided rivers like the American because of the dangers.  But an alcohol ban approved by the State Legislature is getting most of the credit for taking the sizzle out of the 4^th..

The loud sounds of a helicopter could be heard moving up and down the American River on Monday.  But it’s what you couldn’t see or hear that made the most striking difference: there was less alcohol on the river.  25-year-old Elizabeth Depelteau was struck by the change.  ”They would get really wasted and everybody would fight and mud wrestle and do all those kinds of things.  It was really scary.”

But there are tradeoffs. Patrol boats from the Sacramento Metro Fire Department gave FOX40’s John Lobertini a front row seat to the cold, fast moving water.  Dam releases from Folsom Lake have slowed, but the river is still moving at double its normal speed.  It’s cold too, a dangerous 52 degrees says Assistant Fire Chief Scott Cockrum.  ”Again, it’s a 50 degree temperature difference between the outside ambient temperature and the water.  It just shocks your body and takes your breath away from you.”

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