Gila County, Arizona – We usually do most of our water rescue rainy season When the sky opens up and the ground in Arizona can’t absorb it quickly.

But Gila County According to the sheriff’s office, the driver chose to bypass Tonto Creek barricades and entered a dangerous mess on January 2.

“We determined the vehicle appeared to be stable. It was there for about an hour and a half. We didn’t know the gentleman’s condition,” said Public Safety Trooper and paramedic Russ Dodge. rice field.

Dodge was unloaded from the chopper during a difficult and dangerous rescue operation near the Tonto Basin on Tonto Creek. This is what rescue teams regularly practice.

“Our pilot, Scott Clifton, was able to hover behind the pickup truck bed and look into the water. He stabilized it so I could get out of the truck and into the bed I was able to keep it that way,” said Dodge.

The team was able to safely trap the man inside the truck as floodwaters pushed the door handle almost to the limit. But as Arizonans know well, not all of these stories have happy endings.

“We lose as many as three to five people to flash floods each year. It becomes dangerous,” he explained. .

DPS says It is neither unheard of nor unusual to perform water rescues in the winter, especially after record amounts of rain in the last few days.

On January 1, Phoenix set a new record for first-day rainfall in 1906.

“The number of burns we’ve experienced is often just increased runoff after these early snowfalls and then heavy rain or warm rain on top of that snow,” Dodge explained. bottom.

The man was brought to safety and given a summons.

See full rescue:

Related reports: