Larry Reinhart is thankful for Shane Smith as Moran chief of police.
About 5 p.m. Saturday Reinhart, 76, rural Moran, tried to drive through water rushing over 5000 Street about a mile south of U.S. 54. Its force was such that the water pushed Reinhart’s pickup truck off the road into a ditch, filled with water and rising from a rainstorm.
With his truck disabled and unable to get out by himself, Reinhart called 911. Within minutes Smith answered the call and immediately waded into the water to Reinhart’s side. Meanwhile, Moran volunteer firefighters arrived and drove their large four-wheel-drive truck close enough to give Smith a rope to secure himself, as well as Reinhart.
“It was a great team effort,” said Daren Kellerman, an Allen County deputy also on the scene. “Dispatch stayed on the phone with Reinhart and helped keep him calm.
“Smith didn’t even take off his gear when he arrived, just jumped right in and waded to the truck,” Kellerman said.
Reinhart was taken to Mercy Hospital in Fort Scott, where he was treated for minor injuries and exposure.
Moran man safe after wash-off
