Firefighters rescue man in Fullerton flood-control channel during downpour

Firefighters rescued a man who ended up in a Fullerton flood-control channel Sunday night, May 19, during heavy rains.

It appeared that he might have fallen in.

To their surprise, firefighters were called for a swift-water rescue at about 10:30 p.m., said Capt. Brian Seymour of the Fullerton Fire Department.

“We were absolutely shocked when the call came in,” Seymour said.

Then they responded to the flood-control channel behind a home on South Cornell Avenue near Walnut Avenue.

It is unclear what the man was doing in the channel. Some neighbors had heard screaming and then saw him and dropped a rope down and called 911.

Firefighters found him hanging onto the rope in about three feet of water, Seymour said. He was about 15 feet below the channel’s rim.

Rescuers dropped a vest to the man and sent down a ladder, leaning it against a side of the channel.

“We had one of our rescue fireman go down there into the water and come back up (on) the ladder with the victim,” the fire captain said.

The man was taken to a hospital to be treated for broken ankles.