Josh Cain
The Orange County Register
(TNS)
Firefighters in a rescue helicopter lifted a man to safety after he became trapped in the swollen Santa Ana River near the border of Orange and Santa Ana early on Sunday, Dec. 11.
Someone spotted the man in the river at around 9:45 a.m., said Captain Thahn Nguyen of the Orange County Fire Authority.
Hoping to intercept the man, firefighters set up along river overpasses south along the river all the way to the ocean. After 10 a.m., they found the man clinging to a cement wall underneath where Garden Grove Boulevard passes over the river.
The firefighters threw down a life jacket with a tether attached to the man. They waited there holding on to the tether until the rescue helicopter showed up to lift him safely onto the overpass.
Nguyen said it wasn’t clear how the man got trapped in the river. He said paramedics at the scene treated him, then took him to a hospital.
Nguyen said even if the rainy weather slackens Sunday, anyone near the river should stay out of the water.
“This water is moving significantly, at a significant pace,” Nguyen said.
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Firehouse.com News
Also on Sunday, Ontario, CA crews responded after a person got stuck in a drainage pipe in the Cucamonga wash near Airport Drive.
Ontario Fire Department officials wrote on Facebook: "With the assistance of @opd, we located the subject and began the complex rescue operation. Firefighters from our heavy rescue team successfully rescued 1 female victim and she was transported to a local hospital with minor injuries."
as well as a woman swept away in the Cucamonga Wash.
