‘Do not ignore road closed signs’ says Snohomish deputy as crews spend time on ‘preventable’ rescues

Some parts of Snohomish County remain underwater and others are trying to dry out following this week’s torrential rainfall. The Stillaguamish River reached record levels. Unfortunately, first responders said some people are continuing to ignore signs of closed roads and are getting stuck in flood waters.

“What happens is you get multiple agencies called out to rescue people who should have been using common sense and they did not,” Deputy Sheriff of Snohomish County Bill Dawson said.

He and Sergeant Greg Sanders responded to reports of a truck that was trapped in flood waters with two men and a dog inside. They said they’ve been responding to incidents like this consistently.

“At one point yesterday I think there was about six different cars stuck on roads because of the rivers,” Sanders said.

Dawson and Sanders waded out to help the two men and a dog stuck in the pickup, but they refused to be rescued.

“They said they don’t want to be rescued and they’re fine there and they want to bring their buddies out here with kayaks and a rope to help pull them out, we can’t make them do that because they’re not in any kind of peril so they’re going to sit here until their friends rescue them,” Dawson said.

Aside from a long time out, the driver is facing a $432 citation for ignoring road signs.

“He’s probably just ruined his truck,” Sanders said.

This call not only tied up three deputies but also crews from North County Fire.

“Please do not drive around road closed signs and get stuck in the water so we don’t have to mobilize and come rescue you when you could have prevented it,” Dawson said.