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Car Recovered From Brushy Creek Days After Four People Rescued
December 18, 2009
The car swept away by flood waters Monday night on Deere Creek Road near Atmore was recovered late Thursday morning.
David’s Paint and Body pulled the car from the muck near Brushy Creek.
Click here for more photos of the inside and outside of the vehicle.
It was about 9:00 Monday night as flood waters began to rise all around Atmore that emergency dispatchers received 911 calls reporting a vehicle or vehicles in waters of Brushy Creek. Initial reports to authorities indicated that as many as eight people in two or three vehicles were trapped in the rushing water.
Two hours after the rescue attempt got underway, four people had been delivered to safety to local resident Mike Allen. At that point rescue workers were still unclear how many vehicles were in the water. The creek was swollen so wide that the powerful spotlights of several emergency vehicle were unable to provide enough light for firefighters to determine exactly what situation they were facing.
During the days that followed, a clearer pictures of what happened began to emerge, and authorities learned that there was just one vehicle in the water.
Reports indicate that Kari Rolin had driven her Chevrolet Lumina into the water rushing across the road, and the vehicle had been swept several feet off the highway. She called her nextdoor neighbors Jeremy and Matthew McGhee, to ask for help. She told them that she thought she was going to drown. The McGhee brothers and Ashleigh Geck rushed to the creek to see what was happening.
They made the decision to jump into the flooded creek in an attempt to save Rolin. Their attempt failed, leaving four people trapped.
Rescue workers attempted to use a human chain to reach the four as they clung to trees for their lives. That failed. They rescuers attempted to use a boat to reach the four. The boat capsized.
Another nearby resident, Mike Allen, heard about the rescue attempt and discovered that his neice, Ashleigh Geck, was one of those trapped. He had not used his jet ski for some time. In fact, he even had to wire a car battery into the jet ski to get it to crank.
Allen’s jet ski rescue attempt worked quickly, saving the four lives.
Click here for more photos of the inside and outside of the vehicle.
Pictured top: The inside of the car that was swept into the flood waters of Brushy Creek on Deere Creek Road near Atmore Monday night. Pictured above: What appears to be a t-shirt remains in the trees near where the car was recovered. Pictured below: The Chevrolet Luminia that was engulfed by Brushy Creek Monday night. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Comments
12 Responses to “Car Recovered From Brushy Creek Days After Four People Rescued”
REGARDING:
char on December 19th, 2009 7:30 am
“Hey, Hey, Hey
Listen to me,
I know I’m not liked on here
……
Everybody needs to stop talking about the should haves,
and the would haves, and the could haves.”
Come on now, what’s not to like?????
That being said, let us address the thought that we should not discuss alternatives. This one is past, and can not be changed but surely we can consider alternative approaches in case something like this comes up again.
Look at what failed and what worked, consider in the cool of the aftermath what might have been done and might be wise in the future.
In a training class one time the instructor told the class not to approach an unconscious victim in case of a hydrogen sulfide leak until they had self contained air supply.
One lady said, “You mean if you were the one lying there you wouldn’t want me to try to help you?”
“No, Ma’am, I wouldn’t. The poison gas would just knock you out too and then when rescuers came to the scene they would have to decide who to save first: the pretty little lady or the ugly old man. They’d help you first and take longer to get to me. I would be more likely to die if you tried to help me.”
Think ahead by looking backward.
Hey, Hey, Hey
Listen to me,
I know I’m not liked on here, but you ppl are forgetting one thing.
EVERYONE and I mean EVERYONE who was there that night
was there to do the right thing, because they care about others.
I’m sure the firefighters and the other rescue workers were trying
to do the best with what they had and what their knowledge and
training was.
Sometimes even rescue workers can’t be all things at all times.
Sometimes it takes a real dare devil to get things like this done,
and luckily for the four ppl rescued in this case Mr. Allen was
that. He was a dare devil who came to rescue his niece and
took on the whole darned rescue.
Hats off to Mr. Allen.
I’m sure the rescue workers feel very frustrated, expecially
when THEY know how dangerous what Mr. Allen did was,
and how this whole rescue could have turned out a whole
different way if Mr. Allen had made just one small mistake.
You think they don’t feel the pain of being out done in their
job, but they DO know why.
Everybody needs to stop talking about the should haves,
and the would haves, and the could haves.
Everyone there was there because they were trying to help.
Everyone their Im sure was doing their best.
I don’t think anyone means anything harmful, this was just
a real stressful thing.
Lets just give everybody involved a break, and feel their pain
and frustration. It’s Christmas for heavens sake!
Wild Bill&friend: Im on no “high horse” nor am I an “arm chair cowgirl” sitting in the “comfort of my computer chair”. You see Bill and friend, I WAS there! Im one of the paramedics on duty that responded&stood by that flooded creek in the rain along with my fellow officers&firefighters from multiple agencies. We were ALL trying to figure how to safely rescue those in the water while at the same time NOT endangering more lives. I know very well all about making split second life&death decisions EVERY DAY…it is my JOB that I have been doing for over 8 years now.Furthermore friend, my “higher power” does guide me through every call I run.
I never said the victims on deere creek were out sighseeing….I said that many (not all) pulled from stranded vehicles were sightseerers.The deere creek victims were not in the car…they were in the water swept away.
Us in fire, police&ems understand more than anyone how difficult it is to stand by&take the time to make safe decisions how to best help those in need WITHOUT creating a larger problem. You think we dont want to just jump in and go? Of course we do! But what use would we be if we jumped in&got swept away? Not only would there be fewer rescuers on scene but more victims too!
I understandy why they jumped in the water ; Im not “reprimanding” them. As Ms. Geck understood, I was trying to say that what happened was in no way safe, as difficult as that is to say&that hopefully people can learn from this. Our training in scene safety&rescue allows us to make decisions under pressure that are safe so everyone can go home at the end of the day. If everyone jumps in, instead of having one to rescue you have multiple victims.
Myself as an atmore paramedic, my husband as an atmore officer along with our fellow fire, police&ems brothers face danger&risk our lives each&every day for meager pay&little thanks…because that is what we love to do&we wouldnt have it any other way. It is an honor to serve our community&Ill again say that Im thankful that everyone is ok. I dont think ive ever seen anyone so happy to get warm,dry blankets.
I agree that Atmore does need training in swift water rescue& the proper equipment for such. Everyone from professional to civilian could learn something valuable from the near tragedy. And thats not from a high horse, arm chair cowgirl…thats from a wife,mother,friend¶medic whos out in the field every day and cares about her community.
Everybody needs to quit attacking each other on here.. Thanks for everybodys encouraging words, but I dont think that Susan is trying to way we did a “bad” thing.. Just not the “smart” thing. I know that we DID make a mistake by just jumping into the water to save the girl. I mean she had to learn that to being a EMS. They have to learn they have to sit back and think before they do something stupid. We probably could have thought of something smarter to do, but at the time we all freaked out. We had never been in that kind of situation before. It was a HUGE addrenalin rush (not the good kind) and we didnt know what else to do. When I got the call that it was my mom (which it wasnt) and I got there I was in the water not two min. after. Although, I do not regret what I did.. Or we did.. Just how we did it. Anyway she is alive, and so are Jeremy and Matt. If it wasnt for them Kari and I probably would have drown. Im very thankfull that mu Uncle Mike had got there when he did.. I think I had enough spiders on me, and i was cold! lol. I am very thankfull for all the firefighters, police men, EMS, and voluntters that came out and tried to help us. Its good to know how many people would actually come together to help other people in bad situations.. Even if it IS their job. lol. I think everything happens for a reason, and sometimes its not as good as we think it should be. We all have learned a lesson from all this. Dont drive when roads are THAT wet. Think before you make a decision that could put your lives and others in danger.. And Atmore needs a BIG boat! ha! Im very thankfull that were all ok. We all need to gorget about this and just enjoy our Christmas!
What would Jesus want them to do? help your neighbor? or let her drown? or wait until morning and find a car floating and a lady missing? hummmm…
I’m positive everyone, including Susan, is glad that no one was hurt. I don’t think Susan was on her “high horse” as someone stated. I think she is speaking from experience. She is an EMT and does face life and death situations everyday. While it is often nearly impossible to step back and think a situation through when it involves a loved one, it does help to maintain cool head and think things through. And I’m sure in hindsight the ones trying to rescue the first victim would have done some things differently. Everyone should stop attacking each other and just be thankful that everyone involved was able to walk away from a situation that could have had a very different ending.
any more questions?just ask susan.
all of the fire, Police and EMS did a great job. the civilians that risked life and limb for the sake of saving others, my hat is off to you. you are truely heroes! It is nice to know there are still honest, reliable, selfless people still in the world. once again good job.
I think Susan may have done a service by possibly causing someone to read and think – and then maybe think twice if the same situation occurs to them.
I, for one, find it hard to imagine that I would be comfortable standing by while there were people in danger of losing their lives. However, her comments make me realize that sometimes impulse is not always the best way to do something.
I think she was saying we all should think things through that might endanger more lives before making an impulsive move.
Thanks, Susan.
Susan:
I agree with Wild Bill. Imagine if that was you! Those people might not have been out sightseeing. Ever think that maybe she was just trying to get home? And, Ashleigh is a friend of mine and I know it took a lot of courage for her to try and save that lady. Her, Mike, and the other boys, should be commended, not reprimanded by you. Who are you to judge?
I think YOU must get tunnel vision and not think before you post your comment! Lets all be glad they were there and not you! I hope some higher power will be there to guide you in the event you ever come into danger!
Susan, does it ever get lonely up on that high horse of yours? It is easy to second-guess from the comfort of your computer chair, but in the heat of the moment, decisions are made quickly. Heros do whatever it takes to save a life, often risking their own lives, that’s what makes them heros. These brave folks certainly don’t need to be second guessed by an arm-chair cowgirl. Perhaps these rescuers and volunteers could use a little more training in swift water rescue, but it is not like this is something they deal with on a regular basis so I can forgive their lack of training and just be thankful they did what they did and that EVERYONE came home safely.
We are all very happy that everyone came out of this ok. Mr. Allen did a great job with the jet ski. However, there are some lessons to be learned by everyone.
First, never, ever try to go across a roadway covered in water. It takes very little water to sweep a car away. So many of the people that fire, police and ems had to rescue from flooded cars were out sight seeing and had no business on the roads.
Probably the most difficult, is that no one should have jumped into the creek, no one should have been standing in the creek. At that point of the rescue not one person had a life jacket on. Had one of those in the human chain been swept away, that would only have added to the number of people needing rescue, therefore adding to the problem. Thats really hard not to do but people get tunnel vision and dont stop and think before jumping in. Dont add to the problem at hand, as difficult as it is. Something we all learn in ems, fire and police is to stop and think…dont become part of the problem. So happy everyone is safe and sound.