MORGAN COUNTY, Colo. — An ambulance carrying a patient and four others was swept away by floodwaters early Sunday morning as it attempted to reach another ambulance. All on board the ambulance escaped uninjured to dry ground through the front windows or rear doors.
Byers Fire ambulance was driving to meet a Morgan County ambulance to transport a patient to Colorado Plains Medical Center, reported CBS Denver.
“It tried to cross the intersection of Morgan County roads 4 and D. There was water flowing over the roads. The ambulance was swept away off the road and against a power pole,” Travis Bailey, Wiggins Fire Department, said in a statement.
Those in the ambulance had to cross 6 or 7 feet of water to reach dry ground and walk a mile north to reach other responders.
According to Karen Williams of the Bailey Fire Department, along with the patient the others on board were a family member of the patient and and three firefighters.
@KDVR This abandoned Byers ambulance under water is just spookey. #COwx #COflooding #COfloods pic.twitter.com/LbTSt2dfdQ
— Angel Andres Rosado (@AngelAndresVid) May 11, 2015
The driver could see the road as he ventured into the water and “wouldn’t have driven into it if he couldn’t see it,” Williams said. “They knew water coming in was going to be an issue.”
She said because of that the driver and family member rolled down their windows and crawled out the windows. The three in the back opened up the doors and made it out with a little help from the first two.
“Responders had difficulty finding a safe route to the scene since many of the county roads are covered with water,” Bailey said.
The patient made it safely to the Colorado Plains Medical Center.
The ambulance remains stuck in about 8 feet of water. Bailey said it will be a couple days before it can be retrieved.