A Paint Creek firefighter is lucky to be alive after floodwaters swept him through 179 feet of pipe while crews were responding to heavy flooding in Greenfield.

The Paint Creek EMS/Fire firefighter was attempting to clear debris from the flooded culvert when the force of the moving water suddenly pulled him into the pipe.

“It pretty much just pulled him right through, he didn’t have a chance to grab a hold of anything,” Paint Creek Joint EMS & Fire Chief David Manning told ABC6OnYourSide.com. “It was certainly something we’ve never experienced before.”

The firefighter was pulled 179 feet through the flooded pipe before emerging on the other side.

He sustained cuts and bruises.

"He is very lucky that that’s all it was,” Manning said.