Man rescued after falling into O’Sullivan Reservoir
GRANT COUNTY, Wash. (11MAY2015) – A 43-year-old Othello man was rescued early Sunday after falling into the O’Sullivan Reservoir.
Around 12:45 a.m. Sunday April 10, four men crossed into a posted no trespassing area at the east end of the O’Sullivan Dam near the community of Marine View Heights in south-central Grant County. While walking along the edge of the concrete spillway, one of the men, Victor S. Garza, slipped and fell about 50 feet down the spillway. He was unable to rescue himself from the waist-deep water.
A sheriff’s deputy arrived, grabbed his jumper cables and a life vest, crawled down a 50 foot rock bank, helped get the life vest on Garza, and used the jumper cables to pull Garza to a safer location. Firefighters from Grant County fire districts 4 and 5 were then able to lower a rescue basket and pull Garza up the 50 foot rock bank. Garza was taken to Samaritan Hospital in Moses Lake for treatment of hypothermia and minor injuries.
Garza and his friends told deputies they were wanting to try their luck at fishing from the dam.
During the incident, deputies contacted the Bureau of Reclamation which operates the dam to make sure the spillway was not going to flow water and put the victim and responders at further risk.
Deputies want to make sure people understand how dangerous spillways can be. Water can flow from spillways at any time without warning. The public is reminded to not ignore “no trespassing” signs. Doing so at a dam site can put a person – and the people coming to rescue them – at risk of injury or death.
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CR#15GS04982
PR75/AGT2
Address/Location
Grant County Sheriff's Office
35 C St NW
Ephrata, WA 98823
Contact
Emergency: 9-1-1
Non-emergencies: 509-754-2011
Kyle Foreman
Public Information Officer
[email protected]
509-760-3713