bferry@timesobserver.com

A fruitless opening day of hunting turned into a water rescue situation in Pittsfield Township.

Wrightsville Volunteer Fire Department, Glade Swiftwater Rescue Team, and Emergycare responded Monday afternoon to a situation in which an SUV was stuck in moving water and one of its occupants was trapped on the roof.

Two men from Erie had been hunting Monday morning. They returned to camp just west of Route 6 near the intersection with Page Hollow Road. They got in a Chevy Suburban and started out. They didn’t make it far.

Rising water from the Little Brokenstraw Creek spread over the driveway.

“Somebody tried to drive across the creek in high water,” Wrightsville Chief Steve Coons said. “It didn’t go well.”

The Little Brokenstraw Creek rose dramatically Monday. According to Coons, the water was about two feet higher by 3:15 p.m. than when he arrived after 2 p.m.

The driver of the vehicle got out a window and jumped across the rushing water to a dry area about six feet away. The passenger did not jump and remained on the roof of the vehicle.

“He was sitting on the roof when we got here,” Coons said. “We waited for Glade.”

They did throw the man a rope and had him tie it to himself.

The Swiftwater Rescue Team brought, but did not have to use its boat.

A volunteer threw a personal flotation device to the man who then made the jump.

He didn’t make it without getting soaked, according to Coons.

Personnel from Emergycare checked to make sure the man was not in need of additional medical attention.

The Suburban was up to its hood in rushing water at 3:15 p.m. There is no immediate plan to remove it.

“The vehicle’s going to remain there until the water goes down,” Coons said.

He said six inches of moving water “will wash your truck away. Don’t drown. Turn around.”

When asked if the hunters were having a good day prior to their rescue situation, one of the responders said, “They didn’t see a thing.”