Pueblo Rural River Rescue

On July 15th, 2025 just before 16:00 Pueblo Rural Fire Protection District was dispatched by Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office Emergency Communications Center to the area near 29th Lane and Drive Rd. Original reports were four parties lost on the river while tubing. Requests were made by Rescue 781 enroute for Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office Emergency Services Division (ESD) SAR to respond as well as a request for drones to help locate the parties. A medical helicopter was also requested but could not fly due to lightning in the area. Crews arrived on scene and set up command and staging while a deputy located two of parties involved who advised there were actually six total and the other four were still up river. Those two parties continued tubing down river to their vehicle on Baxter Rd. One of the first arriving PCSO wildland firefighters deployed a drone and upon scouting the river located the four parties in question and led crews into their exact location. Once crews made access to them it was determined there were three teenagers and one adult. One party had a minor injury but all were in stable condition. Firefighters and search and rescue personnel set up ropes and rigging which required a firefighter from Pueblo Rural to swim across the river. Once everything was set up a deputy was able to walk in through a heavily wooded area to the south side of the river where the parties were and assisted operations on that side. An inflatable boat was deployed with two rescuers and several trips were made across the river to extract all four parties and crews. Once removed the parties were treated by AMR and transported to a local hospital for evaluation. Crews were on scene for over 4 hours. Information provided by Code 4 Photography

Units on Scene:

Pueblo Rural: Chief 701, Rescue 781, Engine 731, Engine 732, Engine 733 & Brush 761

ESD: Brush 165, Brush 161, Truck 184 & (2) ATV/SAR trailers

Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office