Mother and baby among victims rescued

A woman in her early 30s and her 4-month-old child were among the many victims rescued from high water throughout North Central Texas on Monday. The woman was attempting to cross the bridge near Range Creek Road on F.M. 902 about four miles east of Collinsville, said Captain Damon Stewart, Collinsville Fire Department.

The woman’s Dodge Durango was incapable of forging the extremely high water caused by the severe weather Monday morning and the water swept it out into the creek. At 9:46 a.m. the Collinsville Fire Department received a call alerting them of the situation and arrived at 10 a.m. after making a high water crossing to reach the scene, Stewart said.

Firefighters were unable to make contact with the woman because their view was obstructed by trees and were, therefore, forced to use Lifestar to make visual contact. “We were having to use life star for visual support,” Stewart said.

Lifestar reported that the woman and her child were on top of the vehicle, which had been overturned by rushing water. At 11:10 a.m., fire officials made the decision to put men in the water on a line in an attempt to reach the woman, however, the attempt failed due to the swift currents.

Collinsville then called the Gordonville Fire Department to the scene with their wave runners. Gordonville arrived and launched their wave runners at 11:27a.m. However, this attempt was also unsuccessful. The wave runners were incapable of battling the current.

The Gunter Fire Department, which was stationed on the east side of the bridge, launched a private boat to attempt a rescue shortly after the wave runners failed. The boat was boarded by several firefighters and they began battling the current to reach the woman and her child.

The boat returned, shortly, with two additional passengers. Firefighters rushed the infant and woman to a waiting ambulance, which took the victims to a local hospital at 11:49 a.m. Neither victim was injured.

Through the combined efforts of Grayson county fire departments, EMS, Lifestar, a private citizen and a number of unsuccessful attempts, firefighters were able to save the woman and her child. “We used all means that we had access to,” Stewart said.