Dramatic rescue: Firefighters help two men to safety after their truck rolls into a drainage ditch

GERMANTOWN (WITI) -- A dramatic rescue Wednesday morning, June 18th as storms rolled through. Firefighters helped two men to safety after their pickup truck rolled over into a ditch.

It happened along Highway 41/45 near Pioneer Road.

The pickup truck ended up in a ditch that quickly filled with water, due to heavy rainfall.

Firefighters battled the elements as they raced to rescue the men.

"This job is all about adapt and overcome," Lt. Tom Hass with the Germantown Fire Department said.

"We're trained to make a bad situation good," Germantown Fire Chief Gary Weiss said.

On Wednesday morning, Germantown firefighters were thrown into one of those bad situations.

"Right in the middle of the worst of the storm," Chief Weiss said.

Firefighters were called out to a crash on SB Highway 41/45 in Washington County.

"When we arrived, we found there was a pickup truck pulling a trailer that had rolled over into, what I`m calling a drainage ditch," Chief Weiss said.

"The water was higher than I`ve ever seen in that area of the freeway before," Lt. Hass said.

The drainage ditch had filled with water, and two men were thrown from the pickup truck.

"One victim was ejected on the highway side. The other victim was on the bank on the other side," Chief Weiss said.

"My first time in a situation like that in my 10 years here," Lt. Hass said.

Lt. Hass was the first in the water.

"It was about up to my chest, neck area. Got across -- did a quick assessment of the patient," Lt. Hass said.

The problem was getting the victim to the other side of the rising water. They turned to their ladders for help.

"The water was actually fast moving in there," Chief Weiss said.

"We used two 24-foot ground ladders and two roof ladders to make a bridge," Lt. Hass said.

"They were able to slide him across on the backboard," Chief Weiss said.

"The training kicked in and we just got the job done," Lt. Hass said.

It was a stormy situation that these firefighters had no problem weathering.

"Everything that happened post-accident couldn't have went better," Chief Weiss said.

The men were taken to the hospital with non life-threatening injuries.

The Washington County Sheriff's Office is investigating this incident.