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Paddleboarder's Sinking Car Sparks a Small-Town Rescue Mission
A Nova Scotia fire chief used a kayak and a magnet to retrieve a Honda Civic that rolled into a river
Published: July 19, 2026
A group of paddleboarders on the Waughs River near Tatamagouche, N.S., watched in disbelief as one of their cars rolled off the bank and slowly sank into the water. No one was inside, but with the river a known fish habitat and a hazard to small boats, local fire chief Mark Langille improvised a solution: he grabbed his personal kayak and a strong magnet from home, paddled out, and hooked the submerged vehicle so a diver could attach a tow line. A tow truck operator then pulled the car, a decade-old Civic, from about six to nine metres of water. The car's owner suspects a weak emergency brake was to blame. Officials say the entire operation, powered mostly by neighbourly resourcefulness, took about ninety minutes from start to finish.
