Tucson Fire crews pulled three people out of the Santa Cruz River during a swift water rescue Thursday afternoon.
A fourth person was rescued by a bystander.
According to Tucson Fire, crews were dispatched to the Santa Cruz River near West Prince Road at about 2:47 p.m.
The initial call was for two people and a dog stuck in a tunnel that emptied into the river.
The engine 4 captain at Station 4, Michael Schierling, said the dog was trapped and they were trying to get the dog out.
They arrived to find two people and a dog stranded on islands in the middle of the river.
Crew members used a throw bag to rescue a third person and a dog from the water.
The Technical Rescue Team formed a wedge formation to walk into the river, which was above the knee and moving fast, to rescue the original two people and their dog, TFD said.
“Once you’re in a spot, it’s hard, if not impossible to get out of. The worst part is, especially during monsoon season, the conditions change very rapidly. The water will rise," Schierling said.
Water will rise, Schierling said, even though it’s not raining where you’re at. If there’s water down south, he said, it can rise a foot to two feet within a few minutes. Rescues, he said, also put TFD at risk.
No injuries were reported, TFD said.
