Thirteen people are safe after being rescued from floodwaters in Bragg Creek by Cochrane Fire Services’ water rescue team June 20, said captain Jory Jenson.
Jenson, a 13-year-member of the local crew, said those rescued included an infant, a toddler and 11 adults.
Three rescues took place, he added. One involved eight people along Balsam Avenue, two men were rescued from a car roof from Burnside Drive and an adult was rescued from the current along White Avenue.
But the quick-moving and rising Elbow River proved a worthy opponent for the trained water rescue crew.
The third mission, involving two women, went awry.
Attempting to help the women get to higher ground — an elderly woman with limited mobility and her daughter — Jenson and his coworker Derek Orr, were forced to self-rescue after the Zodiac boat they were in filled with water.
“One minute the boat was empty with four of us in it, the next minute three of us were out and the boat was swamped,” said Jenson.
The elderly woman was swept from the boat, followed shortly by Orr. Jenson said he jumped out of the vessel to help keep it upright. The other woman remained in the boat. Eventually, Orr and the submerged woman found their way to a tree.
“As a rescue team, the last thing we want is to lose the people we’re rescuing,” said Jenson. “I was most scared we were going to lose the gals.”
They were, after a period of time, able to get the elderly woman and themselves back on the boat.
Meanwhile, crew members put out a ‘Mayday’ call — a rare call for help for a firefighter in trouble.
“We were able to self-rescue with help from people on the shore,” said Jenson. “They threw us extra ropes, which we keep tying off to ferry ourselves. Slowly we crawled our way to higher ground.”
He estimated that from beginning to end, the mission took about an hour.
Jenson credits his teammate Orr for his courage and hard work. Orr, a lieutenant, “singlehandedly kept the elderly woman alive,” said Jenson.
The captain humbly expressed his gratitude to the mix of civilians, off- and on-duty emergency services personnel, firefighters and RCMP.
A pair of front-end loader operators offered their machinery and expertise to the crews, helping them to reach many of the stranded residents — including the two women.
Cleanup and repair efforts have begun in the hamlet, with volunteers gathering at the Bragg Creek Community Centre.
An account collecting donations for Bragg Creek has been opened at the ATB Financial in Cochrane.
