Man pulled from flooding car in rescue

ELKVIEW, WV (WCHS/WVAH/CNN) - A driver in West Virginia is okay after being pulled out of a vehicle stranded in flash flooding.

Firefighters had just minutes to spare, after the water swept his SUV in Friday night.

The rescue was caught on camera.

"Water was rising really quick, and we knew we needed to make a decision quick," Fire Chief David Wagoner said.

The fast-moving Little Sandy River was anything but little, as it started to sweep the vehicle away. The driver, helpless inside.

"We estimate he was probably in there 30 minutes from beginning to end,” Wagoner said.

The man was trying to cross the flooded area and got swept away. He was able to call 911 from inside the SUV.

In minutes, multiple fire departments were on scene, fighting the fast-moving water to get to him.

"Whatever they did they needed to do it quick and they knew it," Wagoner said.

Family members watched from the riverbank, terrified, as the water touched the top of his vehicle.

Lieutenant Corey Carr with the Pinch Volunteer Fire Department, was able to break through the back window of the car, and pull the man to a rescue boat.

He says they had just minutes to spare.

"Many years of training and teamwork leads to better responses, getting out there," Carr said.

The driver was okay, thanks to the quick action and teamwork of first responders.

"With the practice they've had and the training they had, they were able to come up with the safest way to get the guy out," Wagoner said.

Wagoner says they don't think of themselves as heroes, it's just all in a day's work.

The SUV got stranded after the man tried to drive through floodwaters.

His family members watched the entire rescue operation from a nearby riverbank.

Copyright 2018 WCHS, WVAH via CNN. All rights reserved.