Firefighters save teenager flash flood in Peachtree City

PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. - Peachtree City firefighters say they were in a race against time to save a teenager caught in floodwaters this past weekend. It happened at the Line Creek Nature Area on Saturday during a torrential downpour.

That evening, Flood Warnings were issued by the National Weather Service for Fayette County. Vincent Wright, 14, told FOX 5 that he and two of his friends thought it would be fun to go tubing in the swift current. They were unaware of the warnings.

Two of the boys made it out of the rushing water, but Wright got stuck and was in jeopardy of being swept away. His friends called 911 and rescuers hiked through the park in the dark until they found Wright about 30 feet from shore in waist-high flood water.

Chief Clint Murphy says Peachtree City firefighters train for lake rescues but have had very little experience with a raging creek. He says firefighters from Station 81 hiked in with everything they could carry from the truck and rigged a ladder to reach Vincent.

Firefighters were battling against the clock with concerns the ground beneath Vincent might give way, or he might experience hypothermia.

Video of the rescue shows Vincent crawling across the ladder to waiting firefighters while the floodwater raged underneath him.

Vanessa Ionta-Wright, Vincent’s mother, expressed her gratitude in an interview with FOX 5. She and the other families involved have plans to take dinner to the firefighters this Friday night.

Chief Murphy praised the firefighters for their ingenuity and quick action.