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Calif. FFs rescue woman, dog, after car plunges off bridge

Rescuers first used chains and cable to stabilize and secure the rear of the car to the bridge, and at the woman’s request, rescuers removed the dog from the car first

Guy Kovner
The Press Democrat, Santa Rosa, Calif.

A woman and her dog were rescued Friday night after her car fell 10 feet off a bridge, partially submerging the car and leaving her in a nearly vertical position, Santa Rosa fire official said.

Firefighters responding about 9:15 p.m. found the car had fallen off a bridge on private property into a tributary of the Laguna de Santa Rosa, in the 3200 block of Guerneville Road, Battalion Chief Mark Basque said in a news release.

Rescuers first used chains and cable to stabilize and secure the rear of the car to the bridge, and at the woman’s request, rescuers removed the dog from the car first. The dog was uninjured and was handed to a friend of the woman at the scene, he said.

At the same time, two Santa Rosa fire swift water rescue technicians went into the flowing creek and placed the woman on a floating rescue board, guiding it across the creek to a ladder, Basque said.

The woman was helped up the ladder, placed in an ambulance and taken to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital with what appeared to be non-life-threatening injuries, he said.

The rescue operation took about 25 minutes.

Crews from the Santa Rosa, Graton and Rincon Valley fire departments were involved in the rescue.

https://www.facebook.com/SantaRosaFD/photos/a.275776112474630/2344022108983343/?type=3&theater

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©2019 The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, Calif.)

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