A 12-year-old boy was swept into rushing water near Blacklick Creek in southeast Columbus on Thursday after trying to ride his bike across a bridge, and firefighters used ropes to pull him to safety. The boy was taken to Nationwide Children's Hospital and was listed in stable condition, according to the fire department.
Fire crews were called to the 3300 block of Sweetser Court near Blacklick Creek, per a city dispatcher, as reported by 10TV. A Columbus Division of Fire spokesperson told the station that crews grabbed and saved the boy using ropes after he was swept away by the rushing water.
Storm Turned Franklin County Streams Into Fast-Moving Hazards
The rescue unfolded the same day heavy rainfall of between 1.5 and 3 inches prompted the National Weather Service's Wilmington office to issue Flood Warnings across Franklin County, triggering flash flooding, road closures and localized water emergencies throughout central Ohio, according to the National Weather Service. The same storm system caused widespread high water in eastern Franklin County severe enough that neighboring Reynoldsburg issued a shelter-in-place order as multiple roadways became impassable, per 10TV WBNS.
Reynoldsburg sits just north of the Sweetser Court area along the same Blacklick Creek watershed. Blacklick Creek is known to surge rapidly during severe storms because urban runoff from surrounding paved developments funnels stormwater directly into the stream channel, according to the Franklin Soil and Water Conservation District. That kind of rapid surge capacity means shallow water in the watershed can turn swift enough to sweep a child on a bicycle off his feet in under an hour.
A Department Built for Water Emergencies
The Columbus Division of Fire maintains 15 trailer-mounted water rescue boat units and a specialized Dive Rescue and Recovery Team, or DART, based out of Station 2, with citywide coverage spread across 35 stations, according to the City of Columbus. That specialized unit was dispatched to 40 emergency calls in 2024 alone, covering incidents involving potential drownings, swimming mishaps and submerged vehicles across the city's waterways, per Hoodline's prior reporting on the unit's recent expansion.
Thursday's rope rescue reflects that ongoing investment in swift-water and technical rescue training across the department's station network. Federal flood safety guidelines warn that it doesn't take much water to become dangerous: as little as 6 inches of fast-moving water can knock an adult off their feet, and 12 inches can sweep away a small automobile, according to the National Weather Service. Officials use that math to justify campaigns like Turn Around Don't Drown, since floodwater is often deeper and faster-moving than it appears.
Part of a Wider Pattern Across Ohio
Central Ohio has seen a string of water emergencies this year. Hoodline previously reported on a major water rescue effort near the Columbus Zoo in July, and on a fatal drowning near a designated swimming area at Alum Creek in June. Just last week, Cleveland Division of Fire crews used a tethered rescue boat and rope system to save a teenage boy who had become stranded in a tree above Big Creek after flash flooding rapidly raised the water's depth and velocity, according to WKYC.
Central Ohio has also seen tragedy tied to swift water before: in March 2021, a 17-year-old Columbus high school student and a 20-year-old would-be rescuer both drowned after being swept away by strong currents in the Olentangy River near Delaware Dam, roughly 35 miles north of the city, per CBS News. Nationally, the stakes for children are especially high: drowning remains the second leading cause of unintentional injury death among U.S. children ages 5 to 14, behind only motor vehicle crashes, with more than 4,000 unintentional drowning deaths recorded nationwide each year, according to the CDC.
For now, the Sweetser Court rescue stands as one with a safe outcome. The boy remained in stable condition after being taken to Nationwide Children's Hospital, a resolution that fire officials and neighbors alike will take as a relief given how quickly the region's creeks can turn dangerous during sudden summer downpours.
