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Two Bartians that went canoeing down the Caney River on Tuesday have been located and are safe.

Battalion Chief Bret Chew with the Bartlesville Fire Department (BFD) said the two citizens started floating the river from the Cherokee Bridge in Bartlesville at 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Chew said they were going to have a friend pick them up down stream, but they lost phone contact with them a few hours later.

Chew is asking people to stay out of the water at this time because it is not safe. He said the citizens that were located weren't even wearing life jackets.

If you do plan on getting close to the water, you're highly encouraged to wear a life jacket, but the best case scenario is that you stay away from the Caney River (pictured) until the water goes down.

The Bartlesville Police Department was called at 8:30 p.m., who called the BFD about performing a water rescue. With swift water conditions, Chew said he wasn't comfortable with putting people in the water not knowing how far down stream the citizens might be that many hours later. He said they would call on the Tulsa Police Department's helicopter crew to assist in the search.

An infrared camera on the helicopter helped them located the citizens around midnight. Chew said they were half a mile south of the Hillcrest Country Club. He said the BFD would launch its inflatable boat at the Hillcrest Bridge.

The Bartlesville Fire Department was able to go down stream and retrieve one of the citizens. Chew said the other citizen somehow managed to leave the location, walk up the river bank and head west. He said the citizens would be located later on the west side of Bartlesville.

Chew said there was great cooperation between the Bartlesville Fire Department, Bartlesville Police Department, Tulsa Police Department's helicopter crew and dispatch. He said Bartlesville's firefighters did an excellent job getting people out of a bad situation caused by bad choices.