Firefighters helped rescue a family in Joshua Tree Sunday afternoon when their car got stuck in a wash during a rainstorm. County Fire Captain Mark Murphy said a Joshua Tree husband and wife, along with their daughter and her young son, were traveling northbound on Sunfair in a Honda sedan about 4:30 p.m. As they approached the wash just a short distance north of the highway, their Honda got stuck in the water and debris that was crossing the road, and then their engine stalled. Murphy said the family decided to wait out the storm in the car, and called a friend to help pull them out. But arriving firefighters knew a second rain squall was coming, and that the water, which was already 1 ½- to 2-feet deep, would continue to rise. Murphy said the family was asked to get out of their car and walk to the waiting firefighters, six of whom were trained in swift water rescue. The family walked out safely and were given rides in the fire engines to downtown Joshua Tree to wait out the storm before going back to pull out their car. Murphy reminds residents not to try and drive through water crossing the road, to wait until the storm passes and the water recedes before driving through flooded areas. “Turn around, don’t drown.”
