A Metro Vancouver woman was rescued Friday after a routine waterline fix turned into her being swept down a waterfall. Deep Cove resident Brittany Craig identified herself as the rescuee in response to a District of North Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services Facebook post and thanked the crews who saved her. “What started as a quick fix on our waterline ended with me getting swept down a waterfall, pulled under multiple times, and stranded on a log against a sheer bank with nowhere to go,” she said, in her own post. “I owe my life to the crew at District of North Vancouver Fire and Rescue. The power of these creeks right now is no joke.” Speaking with CTV News Saturday afternoon, Craig said it was probably the scariest day of her life. “I thought I was gonna die,” she said. “I was trying to get the pipe back underneath the water and, to hold it down, I was trying to put a big rock on top of it.” “As soon as I got (the rock) off the ground, the force in the water started pushing the rock down the waterfall, and I was holding the rock, so then I got pulled down.” DNVFRS said a crew was called to Sasamat Lane in the Woodlands area of Deep Cove at around 12:47 p.m. for a water rescue. Craig recalled seeing red and white flashing lights as she sat soaked and cold on the wrong side of the river. “I was screaming and trying to wave my hoodie around and, maybe five minutes later, I saw a person show up,” she said. “I just felt instant relief … everything was gonna be okay.” Craig said her rescuers warmed her up with heat packs, a blanket, and a heating vest before attaching her harness and prepping her for extraction. According to DNVFRS assistant chief Dennis Cappellini, crews then performed a high-angle rope rescue and successfully rescued the individual without injury. “Crews faced challenging conditions including to slippery terrain, unstable rocks, and a tree that fell during the operation,” he said, in a statement to CTV News. Craig said this all began with heading to the river to complete a task she’d completed many times before, but her experience Friday will change her approach in the future. “I just wouldn’t want to go back up there when the water’s high … it’s just not worth it,” she said. DNVFRS urged locals to stay well back, keep children and pets away from fast-moving water, and refrain from entering moving water to retrieve a pet or object. “Heavy rainfall, especially after a long period of dry weather, can cause creeks and streams to rise much faster than normal,” Cappellini said. “In addition to water levels changing rapidly, the creek banks may be more unstable than usual due to the erosion and saturation caused by fast moving water.” Environment Canada issued a rainfall warning heading into Friday and predicted that up to 80 millimetres of precipitation would fall throughout the day, with the North Shore among areas expected to see the most. Rainfall warnings remain in place in Metro Vancouver, with Environment Canada projecting that a low-pressure system bound for B.C.’s South Coast will produce another 50 millimetres of rain over the weekend. “Water will likely pool on roads and in low-lying areas. Landslides may occur in vulnerable areas such as steep slopes, deforested areas or recent burn scars. Watch for washouts near rivers, creeks and culverts,” the warning reads.
