Colorado Flooding: Trapped Firefighter Rescued

By: Stephanie Valera

Published: September 12,2013

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Emergency crews have rescued a firefighter who became trapped in a tree in Left Hand Canyon, Colo. as heavy rains continued to hammer northern Colorado on Thursday, causing flash flooding that has left three people dead, according to National Weather Service Boulder.
A crew of firefighters was working its way up Left Hand Canyon and assessing the situation when a "wall of water" came down the canyon, according to Andrew Barth from the Boulder Office of Emergency Management.
"The firefighter in the truck was able to scamper up a tree into a hill," Barth told USA Today. "He's up the tree ... because we still have water coming through. We figured there was a debris dam blocking somewhere up the road and it broke through as [the firefighters] were coming through."
(MORE: Flood Emergency in Colorado)
The Boulder Office of Emergency Management deployed a crew to rescue the trapped firefighter, according to Barth.
"It's scary but he's okay," said Barth.
Boulder Office of Emergency Management spokeswoman Gabrielle Boerkircher told the Associated Press that one person was killed when a structure collapsed in Jamestown, but that she didn't have any other details because the high waters have prevented rescuers from reaching the scene. A second death was confirmed when a body was recovered by the Colorado Springs Fire Department Thursday morning.
The threat from the system is far from over, according to meteorologists.
"A slow-moving area of low pressure over the Rockies combined with a moist, southerly flow at all levels of the atmosphere will keep the threat of locally heavy rain and flooding in place into the weekend," said Weather.com meteorologist Chris Dolce.
Emergency Management Director Mike Chard said people should avoid creeks and waterways, and not attempt to cross flooded intersections in their cars, according to The Associated Press.

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A local resident looks out at a road washed out by a torrent of water following overnight flash flooding near Left Hand Canyon, south of Lyons, Colo., Sept 12, 2013. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)