Boat launch goes awry, truck becomes submerged in Silver Lake

A man’s attempt to launch his boat in Silver Lake went horribly awry Friday afternoon when his truck rolled backward into the lake, becoming submerged.

The man was backing his boat trailer into the water around 1 p.m. Friday when he heard the sound of his motor scraping against the ground, according to the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office. He turned off his truck and got out to raise the motor. He did so, but then the truck began to roll with the boat and trailer still attached.

The stern of the boat floated free of the trailer, which then went under the dock. But then the buoyancy of the boat lifted the trailer off the bottom, jamming it under the dock. Spokane County Sheriff’s deputies, including a diver, arrived to help. The diver was able to free the trailer, so it and the truck could be towed from the water.

Silver Lake is near the town of Medical Lake.