Lakewood Water Rescue

At 18:41 on July 20th, 2019 West Metro Fire Rescue responded to a report of a possible body in the water at W. 12th Ave. & Miller St. The area experience a flash food through the Lakewood Gulch which went over its banks after the area experience a heavy storm, which also caused W. 10th Ave. & Kipling St. to flood over. Jeffcom upgraded the call to a full dive response due to several 911 callers reporting the person in the water was being carried downstream. Engine 2 arrived on scene, and started to search the water at Miller St. District 3 arrived on scene and assumed command, and advised for Kipling St. to be shut down. Swift Water 17 arrived and assigned east of Kipling St. at W. 10th Ave. & Independence St. in the Lakewood Gulch for search. Engine 17 set-up on W. 10th Ave. & Kipling St. and the road was closed down by Lakewood Police Department for several hours. Crews set-up at various points to search the water, and a drone was also used in the search. After several hours searching into the evening, with chest high water in some areas, crews were unable to find the person in the water and shut-down the search with losing daylight until the next morning due to dangerous conditions. The next day on July 21st, 2019, crews discovered the body of the victim around 10:00 under 10 feet of water in heavy vegetation in the Sunset Park area. Additional information provided by West Metro Fire Rescue.

Units on Scene: District 1, District 3, Chief 9, SAM 2, Engine 17, Swift Water 17, Dive 2, Boat 2, Engine 2, Engine 8, Tower 8, Medic 2 & PIO

Lakewood Police Department