Alaska News

Watch: Alaska Air Guard rescues man from truck submerged in Cache Creek

The Alaska Air National Guard says a man who needed rescuing from his submerged truck in Cache Creek may have been trying to cross the creek.

"There's a mining road 100 to 200 yards upstream that crosses the creek, but water levels have been higher lately due to the amount of rainfall," said Lt. Col. Keenan Zerkel, the Pave Hawk helicopter pilot who helped in the rescue.

Word of the trapped man on Cache Creek, near Mile 40 Petersville Road, first reached Alaska State Troopers just before 7:15 p.m. Thursday, according to an online dispatch.

[Read more: Alaska Air Guard saves rafters stranded in Susitna Valley for 5 days]

The man crawled out of the cab of his truck and on top of the vehicle while it was moving downstream, the Air Guard reported Monday.

A bystander who was with him left the scene for cell service to call for help. Troopers called the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center, which coordinated a response.

The Air Guard says it launched an HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter with two pararescuemen onboard and an MC-130P Combat Shadow aircraft, which provided aerial refueling.

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Rescuing the stranded man required a "high-hover technique" and a 180-foot hoist — 4 1/2 times higher than a typical mission involving a hoist, according to the Air Guard. Officials said they didn't want to get too close to the man and blow him off the truck.

The Air Guard noted that high waters contributed to a rafting accident at Lake Creek earlier in August and reminded people to exercise caution on waterways, as high waters resulted from an abundance of rain in certain parts of the state this summer.

 

Jerzy Shedlock

Jerzy Shedlock is a former reporter for Alaska Dispatch News. He left the ADN in 2017.

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