Nearby residents helped save a man who crashed his car into a water-filled ditch early Saturday in Pitt Meadows.
The middle-aged man was driving his dark, four-door hatchback north along Baynes Road just after 2 a.m. when he crossed Ford Road on to a dirt path leading to a farm and veered into the ditch, near Pitt Meadows Regional Airport.
Local residents heard the crash. About six of them ran to help.
The man was able to get out of the vehicle himself, but was unable to climb out ofthe ditch as the bank was steep and thorny.
Bystanders threw him down a rope to help him stay above water until Pitt Meadows Fire and Rescue Services arrived.
“Which was great because one was holding the rope holding him up. Other ones flagged us down because it was sort of off the main road. So they flagged us down with flashlights to guide us in to get us there quicker,” said assistant chief Mike Larsson, who was first on scene.
Larsson threw him down a second floating rope until the rest of his crew arrived with a ladder.
The man was seen by paramedics.
Ridge Meadows RCMP Insp. Aaron Paradis said the driver of the vehicle did not suffer any life-threatening injuries and was not transported to hospital.
“He was just shaken and cold, as you would be,” Larsson said.
There is a three-way stop sign at the intersection. Larsson wants to thank the residents that came out to help.
“They did an incredible job of keeping him afloat and calm until fire crews arrived.”
Larsson added that the man is fortunate that the vehicle landed upright.
“If he had been upside down, it would have been a totally different story.”
RCMP continue to investigate.