A driver apparently unfamiliar with her surroundings had to be rescued Wednesday night when she drove into water from the parking lot of a restaurant and ended up trapped in her car, in a body of water.
She was leaving TJ Chumps, in the 1100 block of Dayton Yellow Springs Road, and apparently mistook the area for a road, said David Reichert, division chief of operations, Fairborn Fire Department.
"This is a perfect example of not being able to see the bottom, not being familiar with the area, not knowing what you're driving into," Reichert said. There was 5 or 6 feet of water running through the parking lot, when usually there are 2 or 3 inches of water.
"The person ended up driving from a parking lot into a stream," he said. "She was unfamiliar with the area. She mistook the area for road. She actually drove into the stream."
Crews from Fairborn, Montgomery County, Huber Heights and Butler were dispatched at about 10:30 p.m. on a report of a vehicle in the water with an occupant inside.
Crews extended a ladder from a ladder truck over the body of water, but could not reach the car. Rescuers put a raft in the water from the area of Commerce Center Drive, then went to her to get her out of the car.
Its front end was submerged in the water.
The rescuers were able to get her in the raft and they brought her to a BP gas station lot nearest to where the car had gone into the water. A crowd had gathered at that gas station to watch the rescue.
Reichert said the driver did not require a trip to a hospital.
