Juneau, Alaska (KINY) – At approximately 9:40 a.m. Saturday the downtown Capital City Fire Rescue crew were checking access to side roads in Douglas at 5th Street when they were dispatched to a 911 call for a person who was pinned by snow and uninjured.
By happenchance, they were at that location when the call came in.
The crew found that a creek next to the residence had dammed up and had a sudden release, bringing down snow and water. The snow and water pinned the occupant below the waist against their residence.
The Engine 11 and Medic 1 Crew assisted the uninjured person out of the snow and helped divert water out of their garage. The City & Borough of Juneau Streets supervisor arrived on the scene and assigned a street crew to remove the snow that had crossed 5th Street.
With the snow, there is still high avalanche danger and with the grounds not frozen there is still a risk of landslides.
“If you are near a creek and recognize a reduction in flow, that could be a sign there is an upstream dam. All outdoors people should use extreme caution while in the backcountry and be prepared for self-rescue,” CCFR wrote on its Facebook page.
