Three teens driving around Rancho Santa Fe found themselves in a dangerous situation Sunday when the truck they were driving was swept away by the strong current of a creek.
“We just kind of floated down river, like just kind of took us down and we kind of flipped over,” Ben Ripley and Ricky Heidt told NBC 7. “Our friend drove through that this morning and he thought he could make it a little after and we just took off and lost control of the water, flipping back and forth, on top of each other the car hit something.”
The teens had decided to drive through the creek for fun. The incident happened around 6:44 p.m. in the Elfin Forest. The rescue was complicated because of the tall trees around where the truck had gone in.
“He went through it this morning very easily,” Ripley and Heidt explained of the driver. “We came back because he thought it was fun and right when we hit it and we tipped over and started flowing down river, no control.”
Fire fighters worked for two hours to rescue the boys. Swift water teams came in as the teens hung on, sitting on top of the truck as the current passed underneath them.
“I didn't know how we were going to get out, the water was coming so fast around the car and it felt like it was going to keep moving,” one of the teens explained.
“They could have easily been hurt or killed tonight in this high water,” RSFFPD Battalion Chief Bret Davidson told NBC 7. “So we don't want anybody driving through...The water was only two to four feet deep at the time, but two to four feet of moving water is all it takes"
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The boys said they’re very thankful to the dozens of fire fighters and rescuers who saved them, and they say they won’t be driving through any creeks again.
