Topics / PUBLIC SAFETY : Firefighters Practicing Flood-Channel Rescue Technique

The San Gabriel Fire Department is perfecting a rescue plan to save people who may fall into one of the dozen concrete-walled washes that snake across the San Gabriel Valley carrying rainwater from the foothills to the Rio Hondo and San Gabriel rivers.

“Our flood-control channels are all vertical-wall channels,” said Fire Chief Gene Murray, pointing out the difficulties of freeing someone caught in water rushing down the steep-walled washes.

“We felt it necessary to come up with a plan to make (rescues) safer for our people and give us the opportunity to help individuals who get caught in the washes,” he said.

The plan centers around an eddy in the Rio Hondo wash, where rescuers can enter calmer water and try to grasp people floating by without a high risk of being swept away themselves, said fire engineer Gary Sauls, who designed the rescue plan. The rescue area is at the intersection of the Rio Hondo wash and Valley Boulevard, he said.

Other cities with the drainage channels have established procedures for rescuing people caught in the washes, but Sauls and Murray hope their idea of setting up a safe site will become the model for such rescues across Los Angeles County.

“People think a little bit of water won’t wash you away . . . but 6 inches of water can knock you down and get you in trouble,” Sauls said.