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Water rescue on the Southwest side

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Posted 8:56 PM 7/15/2012 : Water rescue on the Southwest side

TUCSON - It's been a busy day for firefighters.

Our camera was the first on the scene as Tucson Fire responded to a water rescue on the Southwest side.

Tucson Fire pulled several people from an SUV during a swift water rescue near Drexel and Oak Tree Drive.

The Tucson Fire Department rushed to their aid tossing life jackets to them to later reel them in.

The first time, no luck, but then a young man in the passenger's side caught the life jacket as water kept rising higher and higher nearly covering the SUV's doors.

"This is horrible. I don't know how people could think of crossing that," said Maria Moreno who witnessed the crossing.

Moreno and her family dialed 911 when they saw this vehicle cross into the flooded area.

"We were just walking down looking at the wash, and we just saw the car hit the water," said Anita Lopez, Maria's daughter-in-law.

"We told them 'no! Don't pass. Don't pass. You won't get through, but they didn't listen and there they are," said Maria.

As the water kept rushing to the area, it was a race against time.

"A lot of people don't know the force of nature of it, and don't know how powerful this current can be, so they take a chance and unfortunately they put a lot of people at risk like the fire department," said Jose Luis Moreno, who called 911.

They were pulled out of the vehicle safely and walked away unharmed.

Firefighters can't emphasize this enough: If you see a flooded area, turn around.

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