Firefighters find some don’t want to be rescued

Jen Lawson

Thursday, Aug. 21, 2003 | 11:15 a.m.

As firefighters rescued dozens who were trapped in their cars by rushing flood waters Tuesday, they were surprised to discover that not everyone wanted to be saved, they said Wednesday.

Dwight Fuller, a fire engineer at Las Vegas Fire and Rescue's Station 9, and other rescuers were helping stranded drivers in the area of Gowan and Campbell roads when they found "an older man who didn't want to leave his car there."

"He said he was just going to wait" until the muddy, foot-and-a-half high flood waters receded, Fuller said with a shrug. "We can't do anything if they don't want to be helped."

Still others may have wished they hadn't needed rescuing.

Engine 203, based out of Station 3 at Washington Avenue and Rancho Drive, became stranded while rescuing citizens at Rainbow Boulevard and Gowan Road and needed a hand from officers manning Metro's Search and Rescue helicopter.

"I think they were a little embarrassed," said Officer Clint Malburg, one of the four search and rescue officers on duty during the flood.

The engine that got stuck sustained about $2,000 in damage, and it should be back in service in a day or two, fire department spokesman Tim Szymanski said.

The firefighters weren't surprised to see Malburg drop from the sky to help them, but many of the others who were rescued were surprised to see him, he said.

"I think half of them didn't know where we came from," he said.

The search and rescue unit conducted seven air rescues and nearly 50 water rescues Tuesday.

Malburg said the air rescues "were just like what we train for, except we had to watch out for power lines." He came dangerously close to the lines at least once.

Capt. Brad Goetting, who works out of Station 9 at Rainbow Boulevard and Lone Mountain Road, helped coordinate calls and monitored rescues from the command center at Station 42, located at Cheyenne Avenue and Tenaya Way.

He said "it was havoc" for three or four hours.

Wednesday morning, firefighters were still responding to calls relating to the flood. An unusual call came about 8 a.m. Someone reported that a 250-gallon propane tank was alongside Valadez Street and Hickman Avenue. It had apparently washed away from a home during the flood.

"Somebody is missing their propane tank, and if they want it back, (the propane company) Pro Flame has it," Goetting said.

Sun reporter

Timothy Pratt contributed to this story.