Colorado Rescue Teams Perform Two Water Rescues

Colorado Springs and El Paso County rescue crews were sent out for two separate water rescues Tuesday after a dog fell into a creek and a man fell over Rainbow Falls because of rushing water from recent storms.

Water is expected to run fast and high through otherwise slow and tame river and creek beds, and the Colorado Springs Fire Department says people should take care not to put themselves in danger.

“It may look dry. We have had sunshine for a couple of days down here, but the mountains got a lot of heavy snow during these last few snow storms,” fire Capt. Steve Oswald said. “The sun coming out is going to rapidly melt that snow, also.”

A 19-year-old man who fell into Fountain Creek above Rainbow Falls in Manitou Springs on Tuesday afternoon was pulled from the water below and taken by Flight for Life helicopter to a hospital.

El Paso County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Jackie Kirby said the man was conscious and breathing, but banged up from going over the falls.

The man was carried up an embankment by a rescue team about 5:20 p.m.

He was trying to jump the creek when he fell in, went over the falls and traveled about 50 yards down stream, Kirby said. The dispatch call came in around 4 p.m., Kirby said.

Sheriff’s deputies on scene said the man was with friends who helped him out of the water before rescue teams arrived.

Highway 24 Business route was closed west of the traffic circle on Manitou Avenue at Serpentine Drive, and traffic was diverted to U.S. 24 during the rescue.

Also on Tuesday afternoon, the Colorado Springs Fire Department assisted after a woman’s dog was swept away in high water at the Bear Creek dog park and she went in to try to rescue it.

They may have been used to playing in the water when it’s normally much lower, Oswald said, but Bear Creek was running at or near capacity on Tuesday.

The woman survived but her dog died, Oswald said. She was highly distraught.

The dog was carried about a quarter mile before it was pulled out of the water by someone at the scene. The dog’s owner was able to get out of the water herself, and another woman tried to revive the dog, Oswald said, but it was unsuccessful.

The fast-moving water may have eroded riverbanks in some areas, undercutting what might look like solid ground above it. People should stay away from high, swift water and watch it from a distance if they’re curious, he said.

“We don’t get to see fast moving waters here very much, and sometimes people really want to see the water and everything else. But watch it from a distance, that’s what we’d really say,” Oswald said. “Don’t get up close.”

Fast water just 6 inches deep is enough to sweep a person off his or her feet. People shouldn’t put themselves at risk to save pets that have fallen into water, Oswald said.

“Now we’re looking at two rescues instead of one.”