Emergency workers rescued a man from a truck after he drove into high water on Irwin Mill Road off Sinking Springs Road east of Clinton on Wednesday morning, Feb. 24, 2016, authorities said. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Note: This story was last updated at 5:10 p.m.
Emergency workers rescued a man from a truck after he drove into high water on Irwin Mill Road off Sinking Springs Road east of Clinton on Wednesday morning, authorities said.
The 24-year-old man drove into the water at about 11 a.m. Wednesday, the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department said. The truck was partially submerged on the bridge, which was under water, authorities said. The truck became stuck.
Anderson County Sheriff’s Department deputies responded.
The Anderson County Rescue Squad along with the Andersonville Fire Department and Anderson County EMS did a “swift water rescue” with a boat and retrieved the driver, the Sheriff’s Department said. The man was not injured.
“This is a reminder to never drive through high water,” the Sheriff’s Department said. “Remember: Turn around. Don’t drown.”
A road closure barrel had been set up and the road was posted, but the barrel and a high-water danger sign were knocked over and lying on the ground, although it’s not clear who knocked them over, said Terry Allen, chief of the Anderson County Rescue Squad.
The truck was still in the water Wednesday afternoon.
“It’s too dangerous for anyone to try to retrieve it,” Allen said.
There is a curb that was probably holding the truck in place and keeping it from washing away, Allen said.
He said he’s been to about four or five similar incidents at that location. Those incidents put emergency responders at risk also.
“It endangers all of us,” Allen said. “I have to put my people in the water, and I have to get in it.”
Allen said emergency responders have to set up rope and put a boat in the water, and they have to set up safety measures to make sure everyone can get back out.
Irwin Mill Road is one of the Anderson County roads that can flood after a heavy rain. A sign near the bridge warns that is a one-lane bridge that floods when it is raining.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
Emergency workers rescued a man from a truck after he drove into high water on Irwin Mill Road off Sinking Springs Road east of Clinton on Wednesday morning, Feb. 24, 2016, authorities said. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Irwin Mill Road off Sinking Springs Road is one of the Anderson County roads that floods after heavy rains. Emergency workers rescued a man from a truck after he drove into high water on the road on Wednesday morning, Feb. 24, 2016, authorities said. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
A sign warns that the bridge floods when it is raining, and a warning barrel was on the road on Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2016, although a rescuer said the barrel was lying on the ground when emergency responders arrived. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
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