Woman saved after swimming inside 70-foot water tower

Aug. 8—ATHENS — Athens Utilities was still draining a 70-foot water tower Friday after a woman went swimming inside and was pulled out by firefighters responding to a 911 call by a retired Athens police officer.

Doug Duren, 59, said he made the 911 call at 6:50 p.m. Thursday when he saw the woman atop the 2-million-gallon tower from his backyard about 70 yards away. Within the hour, Athens firefighters Hunter Campbell and Coty Collins had plucked her from water that was 55 feet deep and helped her down the ladder to safety, according to a statement by the city of Athens.

"The heroes are those firefighters who climbed up there and rescued her out of that tank," Duren said. "When I first saw her, she was already on top of the tower. I thought of her possibly drowning and being in there for nobody knows how long. If she hadn't been found, what would it have been like in a week and us drinking that water?"

Athens Utilities officials said the inside of the tower would be cleaned of debris and sanitized after it is drained.

Duren said he and neighbor Randall Gainey saw the woman climbing on top of the tower. Duren described her as a physically fit woman in her early 20s.

Duren said he could hear her talking, apparently to herself.

"She wasn't upset. She wasn't making any sense," he said.

At one time, he said, she was "sliding down from the top like a little kid and was in a world of her own, just carefree as she could be. If her foot didn't catch the rail, she would have slid off the top of the tower and likely would have fallen to the ground. It was almost comical, but it was a serious situation."

He said a few moments later she opened the hatch on the top of the tower and went in head first to swim in darkness. He said the hatch opening closed after she disappeared inside.

A video taken by by Duren shows the first responders bringing the woman down the ladder at 7:42 p.m.

Duren said the woman initially was wearing blue jeans and a tube top.

"She lost her pants while she was swimming," he said. "She was in her underwear when she was brought out and the firefighters were leading her down the ladder."

In a statement, the city said the firefighters "climbed the tank and found her swimming inside and convinced her to come to them. They secured her with a harness, got her over the edge and walked down the ladder with her."

Athens Police Chief Floyd Johnson wasn't sure how the woman got inside the perimeter fence. On Friday morning, there was about a 1-foot gap between the ground and the bottom of the fence facing Elm Street. The steps going to the top are on the back of the tower, out of sight of motorists on Elm Street.

Johnson said the woman was transported to Athens-Limestone Hospital for mental evaluation. No charges have been filed, he said.

"If the neighbor (Duren) hadn't seen her and called us, it could have been a life-threatening situation," Johnson said. "It had so much potential to being a very bad situation. It was the best outcome we could have hoped for. I've never seen anything like this in my career."

He said Athens Utilities cut water off from that tower immediately when the emergency call was received and began draining the tower Thursday night. The city said it had clean water in other tanks.

"Nobody went without water," Johnson said.

At noon on Friday, Athens Utilities workers were monitoring the water release, which was expected take about 16 hours.

Johnson said the tower had been recently painted and repaired. Athens Utilities officials said the tower was built in 1968.

— mike.wetzel@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2442. Twitter @DD_Wetzel.