Man rescued from wash

Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2003 | 11 a.m.

A man was rescued this morning from a remote desert wash in Henderson, leaving authorities wondering not only how he got there but also whether he had been burned by chemicals.

"He had what appeared to be chemical burns on his body, but it also could have been severe dermatitis -- we just don't know at this time," Henderson Fire Department Battalion Chief Jeff Lytle said.

The man had to be carried from a sandbar in the desert wash, about a mile north of Warm Springs and Pabco roads behind the Jokers Wild Casino, 920 N. Boulder Highway, in Henderson. The man had no identification on him and may be a vagrant, authorities said.

Lytle described the apparent burns or infection as "pretty significant." He said it appeared to be "all over his body."

Henderson Fire Department got the call shortly after 6:30 a.m. and firefighters were able to get to the man about 7:45 a.m. after crossing silty soil and a wash that contained an estimated 2 1/2 feet of slow-moving, dirty run-off water.

One of the reasons it took so long was Henderson Fire Department officials didn't think they would be able to reach the man because the ground in the area is mostly silt.

As a result they contacted Metro Police Search and Rescue, which had its helicopter standing by. Although the ground rescue was "slow moving" the helicopter was not used, Lytle said.

About 10 fire department members rescued the man from a sandbar in the wash.

It was unknown how the man got to the location. There were no abandoned vehicles in the area. It also was not known whether the man had walked to the site and stopped to rest there or whether someone had dumped him there.

Although the man was unresponsive, he was alive when he was transported to the University Medical Center for treatment, Lytle said.

The rescue workers and the man underwent decontamination after the rescue and shallow-water crossings.

Lytle said that was done because of concerns about contaminants that usually exist in runoff that regularly runs through the washes, not because of concerns about the possible chemical burns on the man's body.