Several victims, dog, plucked from river bottom during swift water rescues
RIVERSIDE — As many as five victims and a dog were reportedly plucked from the Santa Ana River during swift water rescues near the Main St. bridge in Riverside, Thursday evening, Dec. 6.
The rescue was initiated after heavy rains caused the river bottom to become engorged with fast flowing water, stranding several people who were believed to have been living in homeless encampments along the river’s edge under or near the Main St. bridge.
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City of Riverside Fire and Police Departments, Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department, San Bernardino County Fire Department, along with AMR and other emergency personnel, were summoned to the area shortly after 6:30 p.m., after receiving multiple reports of several victims stranded in the Santa Ana River bottom by rising waters.
A Riverside PD aviation unit in the department’s “Air-1” assisted during the rescue operation, first rescuing a stranded woman from an island and transporting her to awaiting emergency crews before returning to the island and rescuing a man and his dog.
Believing their rescue was completed, officials were preparing to clear the scene when Air-1’s aviation crew spotted several more victims stranded by rising waters further up the river.
Emergency personnel coordinated both boat and helicopter hoist rescue efforts and officials updated shortly before 9 p.m., that several additional victims had been rescued.
All of those plucked from the flooded river bottom were evaluated and treated at the scene and none required further medical treatment. There were no reported civilian or firefighter injuries reported as a result of the rescue efforts.
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Trevor Montgomery, 47, moved last year to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes for several other news organizations; including Riverside County based newspapers, Valley News, The Valley Chronicle, and Anza Valley Outlook; as well as Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County and Mountain Echo in Shasta County.
Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back, and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s accident.)
During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations; including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center, and Lake Elsinore Station; along with other locations.
Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.
Trevor has been married for more than 28 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and his “fluid family” includes 13 children and 15 – but soon to be 16 – grandchildren.
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