Alaska News

Firefighters rescue 2 men on mud flats

With the tide rising, firefighters pulled two men from the coastal mud near downtown Anchorage on Friday as dozens of bystanders watched.

Witnesses called 911 around 6 p.m. after seeing a man who appeared to be stuck in the mud, said Capt. Kevin Wallace from Fire Station 1.

Police arrived and found the two men on the mud flats, south of Elderberry Park. One of them was unconscious and unable to move, Wallace said. Both were breathing and had pulses, he said.

The treacherous tidal flats can trap people walking on the mud, creating a sticky situation that can turn fatal when the tide rises.

"Of course, our concern was the incoming tide," Wallace said.

Neither man appeared to be actually stuck in the mud, but a tide change about the time the report came in had the firefighters hustling, Wallace said.

Firefighters dragged the two to a point closer to the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail, where they were put into gurneys, wheeled to ambulances and driven to a hospital, Wallace said.

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Their conditions were not immediately available, he said. It wasn't immediately clear what the two people were doing on the mud flats.

By CASEY GROVE

Anchorage Daily News

Casey Grove

Casey Grove is a former reporter for the Anchorage Daily News. He left the ADN in 2014.

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