At 7:25pm on Monday the Lawrence County Dispatch Center received a 911 call from a motorist stranded in flood waters around 433 Lawrence 107 in Ravenden. The Lawrence County Dispatch Center paged the Ravenden Volunteer Fire Department to respond to the area.
Ravenden Fire Fighters attempted to get to the victim from the Ravenden side of Lawrence 107 but was unable due to high waters. Ravenden Fire Chief Butch Dail ask the Lawrence County Dispatch to call the Imboden Volunteer Fire Department to attempt to reach the stranded victim from the Annieville side of Lawrence 107 at 7:40pm.
Lawrence County Deputies ask for the Arkansas Game and Fish to ready a boat, Game and Fish Officer Wade Spence responded at 7:45pm. Imboden Firemen responded through high water with it’s Rescue 3 unit, not only treading high water but also downed trees in the road. Meanwhile Ravenden Fire Chief Butch Dail was in constant phone contact with the stranded victim.
Imboden Firemen followed by Ravenden Firemen made it to Watuga Spring on Lawrence County Road 107 and were stopped by the high waters. Ravenden Chief Butch Dail informed the firemen that they were within a 1/4 mile of the stranded motorist. Two Ravenden Firemen braved the water and continued on toward the victim.
At 8pm the Ravenden Firemen reported that they had rescued the man from his van and were also able to retrieve the van from the roadway. Ravenden and Imboden were back in service shortly after 8pm back enroute to their fire stations.