Car flips into Clark Fork river
<p>At close to 7 a.m. Wednesday morning, a car going down River Road West in Plains flipped over and landed in the Clark Fork river. The driver was unharmed and taken to the hospital.</p>
PLAINS - The Sanders County Sheriff's Office received an emergency call early today at 7:16 a.m. from a residence on River Road West stating a car had flipped over and was halfway submerged in the Clark Fork river.
The car, a maroon four-door sedan, went off the road, hit a small tree, rolled over and landed upside-down in the river, according to investigators. They estimated it happened shortly after 7:00 a.m.
No one was hurt. The driver of the car, a woman possibly in her 20s, escaped the vehicle with the assistance of the resident of the house across the road where the car landed in the river.
"She got herself out," the resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said. "I heard the crash. It was an awful noise. I ran down to the river and I called, 'Is anyone in there?' to the car and then I saw her. Her eyes were big and she couldn't get out of the front door because that end of the car was stuck in the mud and she had climbed out the back [trunk of the car] and was at the back of it and I told her 'keep coming, come to me, you're almost there,' and she made it to shore."
Search and Rescue was also paged to the scene as well as Montana Highway Patrol.
"I'm glad she got out safely," Search and Rescue team member Mike Beddick said.
The victim was taken to Clark Fork Valley Hospital.
Sanders County Sheriff's Office was on the scene as well. Officer Johnson supervised the scene and directed traffic.
Valley Towing was paged to get the car out of the water. The location of the vehicle in the water was about 7 to 10 feet from the shore and the water was not deep.
Search and Rescue prepared to suit up into water gear in order to assist the towing.
"It's for safety," Beddick said. "We get in the water to help while they pull the car out."
The resident who assisted the victim also said she was shaken up from the experience.
"I can't stop shaking," the resident said. "But that girl - she was in really good shape. She was able to pull herself out and swim over. She saved herself."
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