Firefighter tells of daring rescue from swift-moving creek

The firefighter who rescued a 74-year-old woman from the water Sunday after her family’s car overturned into Walnut Creek said during a news conference in Concord today that teamwork made the rescue possible.

Contra Costa County Fire Protection District Fire Engineer Dave Manzeck, a 36-year-old Tracy resident, said he has been with the fire district for six years, but this was his first water rescue.

Walnut Creek police received a 911 call at about 6:10 p.m. reporting that a car had lost control and plunged into Walnut Creek near Mount Diablo Boulevard and San Miguel Drive, Walnut Creek police Lt. Shelly James said.

The driver, 40-year-old San Diego resident Tim Hogan, was trapped inside the car, a 2000 Honda Accord, and pronounced dead at the scene.

His parents, James and Janet Hogan, were able to get out of the car, but were quickly swept downstream by the fast-moving current.

Officials said the creek had 4 to 5 feet of rushing water as a result of the weekend’s storms.

James Hogan, 79, was last seen floating face down in the canal, officials said.

A California Highway Patrol helicopter crew was on its way to retrieve the body from the water when they were diverted to rescue Janet Hogan, 74, who was spotted near Treat Boulevard, about three miles downstream from where the crash happened, officials said.

Manzeck said the helicopter crew had seen Janet Hogan calling for

help and then saw her go under.

She was under water for 15 to 20 seconds when the crew lowered Manzeck into the churning 50-degree water, Manzeck said.

“There was a downdraft while they were lowering me, so I went into the churn pretty hard,” Manzeck said.

Within seconds, Manzeck said he felt Janet Hogan’s head hit his knee and he was able to kick the unconscious woman up onto a rock.

While he was in the water, Manzeck was hit by several logs, or possibly the same log several times, he said.

At one point during the rescue, Manzeck’s harness began to choke him and he had to be lifted out of the water to adjust it.

When he was lowered again, he was able to reach Janet Hogan and secure her to his harness. The two were then flown to shore, where paramedics performed CPR on Hogan to revive her.

Manzeck said he dislocated his shoulder and tore a ligament during the rescue and was put in a hospital room at John Muir Medical Center just doors down from Janet Hogan’s room.

He said she called him into her room Sunday night, where she kissed him on the cheek and called him an angel.

As of this afternoon, however, rescuers still had not recovered James Hogan’s body, Contra Costa County Sheriff’s spokesman Jimmy Lee said.

About 50 searchers, aided by helicopters, dogs and a boat from the sheriff’s marine patrol unit, were scouring the 11.3-mile length of Walnut Creek between Bancroft Road where James Hogan’s body was last seen and the Sacramento San Joaquin-Delta this afternoon, Lee said.

James Hogan had volunteered with the sheriff’s department for almost 16 years at the Alamo station, where he coordinated other volunteers,

Lee said.

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