Dramatic rescue in town of Harrington
CTV
A volunteer firefighter and director of public security for the town of Harrington, northwest of Montreal, made a dramatic rescue of a couple trapped on a flooded roadway during heavy rain.
In his 41 as a volunteer firefighter, Neil Swail had never had to perform a water rescue on land. That changed on Friday when torrential rains poured over Southern Quebec.
Swail, the Director of Public Security for the town of Harrington, 115 kilometres northwest of Montreal, said that they received a call about a couple trapped in a vehicle on White Road.
"They arrived at a place where the road was flooded and proceeded to try to cross the flooded section of the road," Swail explained.
"I guess not realizing that there was at least four feet of water on the road, so the current ended up sweeping the car into the ditch and trapping them in the vehicle."
Before firefighters could reach the couple, the situation went from bad to worse.
"The gentleman was still in the car, but the lady had tried to exit the vehicle and was subsequently taken by the current downstream," Swail recounted.
"Luckily for her, the water had sort of chosen its own path outside of the creek bed, so she got swept down through the forest beside the creek bed. She was in about four feet of water up to her chest, I believe."
