COLUMBUS, Ohio — A battalion chief of the Columbus Division of Fire has a warning after two men tried to rescue their brother who drove into a north Columbus retention pond Wednesday morning.
Columbus Division of Fire Battalion Chief Steve Martin said a man sitting in his car backed into a parked vehicle and then drove forward, over a curb and into the retention pond near an Amazon facility on Busch Boulevard.
The driver's two brothers jumped in to rescue him. The driver was able to get out of his car and swim to shore. One of his brothers was also able to get out of the car, but the second brother somehow got stuck and was underwater for about 45 minutes before dive teams were able to pull him out of the pond.
Martin said there several dangers about retention ponds and warns that people should not dive into them in an attempt to rescue someone.
“There will be plumbing, electric lines, fishing lines, ropes, all kinds of stuff,” Martin said.
Martin added that one of the rescue team members was caught in fishing line that was in the pond.
Instead of diving in yourself, Martin said it is better to call 911 and try to use some kind of flotation device to get the victim back on land.
"We do all of our search by hand, our eyes are the guys outside of the water, our tender. He guides us with our direction and movement and we do everything pretty much by feel and touch,” said Luke Smiley, a Columbus Fire paramedic and member of the dive team.
The brother who was under water for 45 minutes was taken to Riverside Methodist Hospital in critical condition. The other brother was also taken to Riverside, but is expected to be OK.