First responders urge caution on water following incident on Longhorn Dam
AUSTIN, Texas - First responders are urging people and visitors to be cautious while out on the waters. On Thursday, crews rescued a boat from almost plunging over the Longhorn Dam.
"This would’ve been very tragic if they went over the damn, this is very high damn and there probably would’ve been severe injuries or loss of life because of that," said assistant police chief Scott Perry.
Fortunately, those on the boat were pulled to safety with the help of the Austin Lake patrol unit who was nearby. Their quick actions were able to give this story a happy ending.
"I have not seen one that close to teetering on the edge without actually going over it was very nerve-racking," said officer Brad smith with the Austin Police Department lake patrol unit.
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First responders in Austin from the police department to fire undergo significant training when it comes to water rescues. "It’s a team effort anytime we have an emergency on the waterway in Austin," said Stephen Truesdell Austin fire division chief.
According to Austin fire, they’ve seen an increase in the number of incidences on the water. "We do a lot of preparations because if we have seen in the past few years there’s been a lot of growth of activity I’m Lady Bird Lake in particular and many people are visitors and are necessarily prepared."
In this case, Austin fire says these people were fortunate Lake patrol was already on the water as it would’ve taken some time to get their crews out there as well. Both police and fire want folks to have fun on the waters this summer but also want people to be cautious of the potential dangers.