This is the moment a firefighter leans on a fence while watching a trapped driving instructor’s car sink in 4ft of floodwater – after emergency crews stood by because they were ‘only allowed to go in waist-high’.
In footage seen, the motorist is left stranded in a notorious ford in Ingatestone, Essex, with water ‘up to his chest’ while a fireman watches on and says: ‘Yeah, he’s on the phone… he’s alright.’
Filmmaker Jamie Price and his partner Danielle, both 32, bravely waded into the deep water to rescue the motorist because they ‘thought he was going to die’ when they arrived at the scene yesterday.
Two Essex fire and rescue crews, an ambulance and a police car were parked near the stricken vehicle, but Mr Price revealed how they would not enter the water because they had to wait for specialist crews who were trained for the water depth.
Mr Price, who has stepped in to save dozens of people in the same ford before, said: ‘I thought he was going to die. I thought the man is trapped in the car up to his chest.Â
‘I knew for a fact the water was freezing cold. He’d obviously been in there for some time waiting for the fire brigade to arrive.’
Why he Helped The Man
Mr Price said that they feared the specialist crews would not arrive in time because they were coming from Colchester, which is why they decided to take action themselves.
He explained: ‘I noticed the driver was still in there and I thought, “Why is there a fireman standing beside him on the radio leaning up against the fence?”
‘I’m thinking, “Why are they telling him to stay there, why are they not helping him?” So I asked him and that’s when they said they were waiting for other crews to come because they’re only wader trained, and it’s too high for them for their training and what they’re allowed to do.’
What The Fireman Said at The Scene
Despite the man’s vehicle floating in the water, the fireman can be seen leaning on a fence and saying on his radio: ‘He’s over the steering wheel, but he’s alright. He can’t open the windows.’
He adds: ‘Yeah, he’s on his phone, he’s alright.’
‘I’m Going to Sink’
But when the driving instructor was rescued by Mr Price and his partner, he appears extremely panicked and shouts: ‘I’m going to sink!’
Speaking about what state the driving instructor was in, Mr Price said: ‘He was still on the phone to the operator at the time when I got him out. When I got him out he was dazed and he wasn’t thinking clearly. That’s how I knew he was in shock.’Â
He added: ‘It’s a very, very, very dangerous ford, probably the most dangerous ford in the country if I’m completely honest at the moment.’
What he Said About The Law Governing Fire Brigade
Mr Price said that the fire brigade was telling him not to help but that the motorist looked like he was going to drown so he had to intervene.
The filmmaker said he understood it was a difficult situation for the fire and rescue crews and that he knew they did want to do something. But he admitted it didn’t look good that the fire brigade were ‘doing nothing’ while two strangers rescued him.
He continued: ‘I felt a bit bad for them to be honest, because it’s not like they’re not capable of helping, and it’s not like they didn’t want to help, but the legislation and the risk assessments and things that they have to abide by obviously hampers how they were able to assist that man.
‘As a member of the public, I’m not governed by the same rules. The risk assessment to me was not important. The man’s life outweighed any other risk to me.
‘He was [thankful] but we didn’t even do it for that to be honest. At that stage when you’re in that position, you don’t need a thank you. That man’s safety is paramount, that is the thank you.’
Mr Price was also pictured last December rescuing a woman who was trapped in her car.
