ELORA – Centre Wellington Fire and Rescue Services responded to a rope rescue call at the Elora Gorge late Monday afternoon after a woman was injured in a tubing accident.
The call came in at 4:15pm and firefighters from the Fergus and Elora stations arrived on scene at 4:26pm and removed the woman from the water.
The two-station response saw 22 firefighters on scene.
Deputy fire chief Jonathan Karn said the water wasn’t very deep at the location of the accident, but the individual stepped out of the tube and her foot was then caught in a crack between rocks.
“They had actually injured their leg tubing to the point where we had to remove them from the gorge using a basket,” Karn explained.
“We were able to locate them in the river. They had a good idea of where they were, so they were able to tell us their location.”
What began as a water rescue ended up being a rope rescue due to the nature of the wooded area.
Karn said the extrication was complex and took longer than normal.
“It had a little bit more challenges than we normally run into and it was based on the trees and the area we were in,” he explained.
“We were able to clear away what we needed to clear and remove her.
“So with those extra things we had to do, that’s what adds to a bit of time and that’s why it took a little longer to extricate her.”
Karn said the site was cleared at around 6:30pm.
Emergency medical services stabilized the woman, who was then transported to Groves Memorial Community Hospital to be treated.
Centre Wellington Fire and Rescue Services saw a busy end to the long weekend with three calls in the span of a couple hours, Karn explained.
The department was called to a brush fire in the area earlier on Monday and another call to a car accident while responding to the water rescue.
The previous night the department responded to fatal car crash southwest of Elora.
