SAN ANTONIO – The San Antonio Fire Department on Monday rescued a man who was sitting on top of his SUV while waters raged below him on the city's far West Side.
Wally Yates, a San Antonio Fire Department batallion chief, said the man was on his way to work around 10 a.m. when he drove his vehicle into about a foot of water.
KSAT 12 News photographer Jason Foster captured the moment the driver tried to cross the rushing water at Leon Creek on Pinn Road near Highway 151.
The man's SUV stalled, and he climbed out of the driver's side window onto the top of the vehicle, Yates said. While the SUV was stuck against a guardrail, the water rose quickly and moved at about 14 to 16 mph, creating a very dangerous situation.
"(He) took a chance and drove across. and he shouldn't have driven across," Yates said.
The man waited for about 45 minutes until SAFD used a ladder truck to reach him. The dramatic rescue was broadcast live on KSAT 12.
"I can imagine it (was) pretty nerve-wracking (for him)," Yates said.
Rescue crews secured the man, and he walked the ladder to safety.
"He's OK, a little embarrassed to (be) getting stuck out there," Yates said.
There were no barricades installed at the time the man tried to cross the creek.
Yates said he didn't know why no barricades were erected and doesn't think the man will be ticketed.
He said prior to arriving at the scene, the same rescue crew had saved a woman at a high-water incident on the other side of Highway 151 at Leon Creek.
SAFD investigated 24 high-water incidents, which included seven water rescues, fire spokesman Woody Woodward said. In most of the incidents, the occupants of the vehicles were walked out of the water.
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