Emery County woman rescued after crashing into Ferron Creek

Emery County woman rescued after crashing into Ferron Creek

(Utah Highway Patrol)


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FERRON, Emery County — A woman who crashed into an Emery County creek earlier this month had to be pulled from her partially submerged car in an impromptu rescue operation that wasn't made public until Wednesday.

The woman was driving on state Route 10 in Ferron on Nov. 12, when her car left the roadway and ended up in Ferron Creek, according to Emery County sheriff's spokeswoman Janalee Luke. A teenage girl riding a motorcycle to a friend's house saw the car go off the road and into the creek, Luke said.

The girl reached her friend's house and reported the crash to her friend's father, Ferron firefighter Andy Deto, who called dispatchers and then went to the crash site. Sheriff's deputy Boe Minchey was four blocks away when dispatchers broadcast the call. He reached the crash "in a matter of seconds," Luke said.

"Deto was already in the river," she said. "Minchey jumped the fence to assist."

While Deto broke out a car window, Minchey went back to his patrol vehicle for medical supplies needed to stabilize the woman, Luke said. Jeremy Larsen, a Utah Department of Transportation employee, passed the crash at that point and stopped to help, entering the creek as well.

"Rescuers were in waist deep, freezing water," Luke said.

The 55-year-old woman was pulled from the car and taken by ambulance to Castleview Hospital in Price, complaining of chest and back pain. Utah Highway Patrol investigators are still trying to determine what caused the crash.

The woman is fortunate someone saw the crash happen, Luke said.

"(Her) vehicle was not visible from the roadway and could have gone undetected for a long time had it not been for the juvenile witnessing the accident," Luke said, adding that even though she works in the same office with Minchey and others involved in the rescue, none of them mentioned it to her until this week.

"When I asked them why they never told me, they said, 'It's just all in a day's work,'" Luke said.

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