Three Gilmer firefighters dramatically saved a woman’s life by rescuing her from her car after it plunged into flood waters on FM Road 2263 northeast of Gilmer Sunday afternoon.

Firefighters identified the woman as Amy Randall, 32, believed to be from Avinger. One of the rescuers, Gilmer Fire Chief Mike Melton, said Tuesday he understood the woman had hypothermia from being in cold water, and that she was taken to the ETMC Gilmer hospital, but “as far as I know, she’s okay.” He noted she had been interviewed on television.

Mrs. Randall’s face was pressed against the rear driver’s side door window—the only air pocket she had left—and she “was getting down to the last second” of air before the rescue was made with a winch and tools, said Melton. He estimated 90 percent of the vehicle was submerged, and said more than 95 percent of the inside was filled with water.

Firefighters Jim Rushing and Mike Ellison helped Melton save the woman.

Mrs. Randall was alone in her southbound Buick when it struck water that was across the highway, hydroplaned, and went off the roadway’s left side into flood waters, said Melton. He said he believed rain had just stopped for a short period.

Water sucked the auto up against a bridge, but a tire caught on the bridge’s top edge, keeping the vehicle from totally submerging in 10 to 15 feet of water, Melton said.

Trevelyn Powell, a motorist who witnessed the accident, alerted authorities, firemen said. Powell told the woman to get in the car’s back seat as the front was sinking, said Gilmer Fireman Phillip Wilburn, who arrived at the scene after the rescue.

Melton said he himself arrived right after officers from the Texas Dept. of Public Safety and Upshur County Sheriff’s Office. He said he told the officers they needed to wait on a rescue truck, which soon arrived, and they assessed the situation while awaiting it.

The fire chief gave this account of events:

The officers knocked on the vehicle’s door to see if the woman was all right, and she knocked back. Although her face was pressed against the window, it was difficult to see due to dark water.

The rescuers hooked a winch from the truck onto the car, securing it from drifting away. They then used a pry bar to get an opening point for the driver’s side rear door before using the “Jaws of Life” extrication tool to pop the door open and free Mrs. Randall.

The rescue procedure took five minutes at most, Melton said.

The fire department received the call to the scene about 4:03 p.m., probably about four miles from Gilmer in the Lone Pine community vicinity, said Melton. The site is about two miles from the intersection with Hwy. 155 North, he said.

He praised the “teamwork” of DPS and sheriff’s officers with the firefighters.