Caught on camera: How a man and his dog, trapped in a car during flash floods, were rescued
The heart-stopping moment firefighters rescued a man and his pet dog from a car trapped in raging floodwaters has been caught on camera. Rescuers from the Florence Fire Department in the US state of Colorado say there's a lot that could have gone wrong during the tense rescue but, fortunately, this story has a happy ending.
David Rooks tells
KKTV that he saw the exact moment waters from the flash flood hit. His car was parked in what was, at that point, a dry creek. "I looked down and I had 6 inches of water on my feet, and I looked up and all I seen was logs and water coming at me," he says.
That's when he grabbed his dog, Petey, and jumped into his vehicle - seconds before it was swept away.
Luckily, a passerby spotted what happened and immediately called 911.
KOAA reports the local fire department used a 100-foot ladder to reach the vehicle, which was wedged on a rock.
While Sunday's rescue took about an hour, a 12-minute video was posted to Facebook by the
Fremont County Sheriff's Office.
In the video, Mr Rooks, wearing a life jacket, can be seen securing a rope around his dog and pushing him out of the car and into the hands of a firefighter. Moments later, he climbs onto the roof of his vehicle and is pulled to safety. The ladder slowly retracts over the muddy, fast-flowing floodwaters, closer to shore.
Watch the dramatic rescue below:
The Fremont County Sheriff's Office also posted a "happy ending picture" of Mr Rooks and Petey with the firefighter who rescued them.
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