First responders rescued a man stuck in a massive mudflat in Alaska on Nov. 17.
The man was working as a surveyor when he sunk into the Turnagain Arm mudflats near the resort town of Girdwood, KTUU reported, citing the Girdwood Fire Department. First responders found the man stuck up to his waist with three inches of water on top of the mud.
The Girdwood Fire Department chief said the man was stuck up to his waist in mud, with an additional three inches of water above that.
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“It’s my understanding that he called his employer on his cell phone because he was surveying by himself and mentioned that he was stuck,” Girdwood Fire Department Chief Michelle Weston said, according to the outlet. “His employer then called us, and then that started the 911 process.”
By using a special mud rescue tool they created, first responders from the fire department were eventually able to rescue the man, according to KTUU. They blasted water around his body, and that way managed to extract the man from the mud. (RELATED: Massive Explosion In The Caspian Sea Caused By Mud Volcano)
“We were very lucky with where the tides were in this scenario, because we had a good amount of time to operate out there before he would have been covered up completely by the incoming tides,” firefighter Stuart Parry said, according to the outlet.
The mudflats in the area are notorious for trapping people, according to the Anchorage Daily News. The Girdwood Fire Department typically responds to two or three rescues in the mudflats each year, the outlet reported.