Sunday, during a storm in San Bernardino County, California, fire crews rescued a family of three from their submerged SUV.
At around 2:30 a.m. on Sunday, the San Bernardino County Fire Department responded to a swift water rescue near Forest Service Road 1N33 and South Lytle Creek Road in Lytle Creek after receiving reports of a car caught in floodwaters with three persons inside.
When rescuers arrived, they discovered the occupied SUV in several feet of swiftly moving water, which prohibited the SUV from traveling to a safe location so the three occupants could escape.
Before entering the river to save two adults and a kid, crew members who were trained in swift-water rescues set up the operation using specific equipment.
Sunday’s Facebook post from the department stated that paramedics treated the patients. According to the statement, all three were unhurt and refused transfer to a nearby hospital.
The department also reported that no firefighters were harmed during the rescue operation.
Officials from the San Bernardino County Fire Department stated, “Heavy rains may transform normally dry washes and riverbeds into raging streams in a very short period of time, and it takes as little as 12 inches of rushing water to move a vehicle.” “Never cross a road you cannot see because it is flooded; remember, ‘Turn Around, Don’t Drown’.”
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