By Dave Hill
Lockport Union-Sun & Journal
CITY OF TONAWANDA —
A woman perched atop a partially submerged sport utility vehicle floating slightly down Ellicott Creek.
It’s an odd sight, to be sure, but that’s exactly what happened Friday morning as City of Tonawanda police and fire personnel were forced into quick action to save a woman whose SUV had gone into the creek after the vehicle’s brakes failed.
Interestingly, the woman was on her way to an auto repair shop on Young Street to have the brakes fixed on her Chevrolet Equinox.
As she pulled into the driveway, though, the brakes failed. The SUV then traveled over some railroad ties in the back of the parking lot and rolled down a slight embankment before splashing into Ellicott Creek.
The woman was able to open a window and climb out onto the roof of the SUV, where she calmly waited until rescuers arrived moments later. Fire officials received the call at 9:02 a.m., after workers from the Tonawanda DPW garage across the creek noticed the unusual scene.
When crews arrived, the SUV was floating down the middle of the creek, making it impossible for rescuers to reach the woman without a rope. Rescuers went to Plan B, which involved swimming out to the stranded vehicle and attempting to tie a rope around it so that it could be hauled to shore.
Crews had to open the hatch to do it, and at that point water began rushing in, causing the SUV to sink quickly, according to Thomas Wolfe, a fire department captain and training officer who went out to rescue the woman. Crews pulled her off the vehicle just as it began to sink.
“By the time it ended, the car was completely under water,” Wolfe said. “As it sank, it flipped over and settled at the bottom of the creek on its roof.”
Fire Chief Charles Stuart said that part of the creek is approximately 12 to 16 feet deep. “The lucky thing about it is that the SUV stayed afloat long enough for her to get out,” he said. “You don’t know how long you have, because those things do sink. It was kind of a crazy thing, but the guys did a nice job with it.”
Two tow truck companies were called in to haul the vehicle out of the water. The woman was not injured in the incident. “She was as calm as could be for what she went through,” Wolfe said, adding that the rescue effort “worked just like it should have.”
Wolfe suffered some minor bruising during the rescue, Stuart said.
As for preparing for such a bizarre rescue effort, Wolfe said fire department members train for rescuing people trapped in swift moving water.
“But to say, ‘Today we’re going to go out and train for a car floating down the creek’ — no, we don’t do that,” Wolfe said.
Contact reporter David J. Hill at 693-1000, ext. 115.
