Firefighters in California made a daring 90-minute rescue on Monday after two people and a dog all required saving from the rain-swollen Los Angeles, officials reported.
A news release from the Los Angeles Fire Department said they’d been called to the edge of the surging river at around 2.13pm local time after passers-by had noticed a woman and her dog struggling beneath the water’s surface.
Firefighters initially tried to throw a flotation ring to the woman, but she continued to refuse the assistance as she wasn’t prepared to leave the river without her dog, a German Shepard mix called Scooby, KABC reported.
Despite her objections, rescuers then used a rope system to lower a firefighter into the swarming waters to pull the woman into safety.
She was taken to hospital with minor injuries, the news station reported.
Rescuers then set their eyes on retrieving the ailing dog, but found it was easier said than done: the dog, firefighters told KABC, seemed frightened of the sounds emanating from their hovering helicopter.
Each time the crew got close, the dog would escape their hold.
A 28-year-old man standing nearby decided to assist the crews, something the firefighters later wrote in a statement that they heavily discourage citizens from doing.
“This type of action is extremely dangerous,” the firefighters wrote. “It not only puts the life of the bystander at risk but now creates another victim for the firefighters to handle.”
After nearly 90 minutes of rescue operations, the LAFD was able to lure the German Shepherd into a section of the river that was shallower and lasso a rope around to bring him back to safety.
LA Animal Services’ Specialized Mobile Animal Rescue Team was also called to assist in the dog’s rescue efforts and released a photo of him looking well before he was reunited with his owner.
Los Angeles was hit by a vigorous storm on Monday, with more than two inches of rain falling by late in the evening in the region.
