A man was rescued by helicopter Monday morning after spending several hours stuck in a tree surrounded by fast-moving water in the Salt River near Tempe Town Lake. The rescue began around 11 a.m., after passersby heard someone screaming from the riverbed near the junction of Loop 101 and Loop 202, and crews scrambled to reach him as the current churned below.
According to azfamily.com, the man had been on the riverbed when the water began rising around midnight, Tempe Fire Department spokesperson Joe Escontrias said. 12News reported that officials said the man reportedly climbed a tree to escape the rising water, where he remained for hours before crews rescued him around noon Monday.
Crews initially planned to reach him by raft, but the swift current kept them from safely approaching, per the same azfamily.com account. Rescuers instead called in the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office FOX helicopter to hoist him to safety. Several nearby trees cracked and broke during the operation, and the man showed signs of fatigue, the station's report notes, though he was ultimately pulled from the water in good spirits.
Conflicting Accounts of the Man's Housing Status
Reports differ on how the man's circumstances are described. Escontrias told azfamily.com that the man is unhoused, while ABC15 reported he was believed to be a homeless individual who had been living in the riverbed. Officials have not released further details on his condition following the rescue, and 12News reported that authorities gave no immediate word on his status.
Dam Releases Push Tempe Town Lake to Close
The rescue unfolded as Tempe closed Tempe Town Lake to all on-water recreation until further notice, citing increased water flow and the risk of debris, according to a separate azfamily.com report. City staff said they would check the lake daily and reopen it once conditions were deemed safe. Parks surrounding the lake remained open during the closure, and fishing was still allowed, per Your Valley.
The surge traces back to releases from Bartlett and Stewart Mountain dams, at approximately 20,000 cubic feet per second. Salt River Project said recent storms and near-record fall runoff had already prompted releases of approximately 20,000 cubic feet per second from the two dams, with the utility projecting that October and November inflows into the Verde watershed would likely be the highest since 1972 — about eight times greater than average.
Releases could increase overnight, underscoring why Tempe is keeping boaters off the lake even as the surrounding parks stay open to the public.
