When she was rescued, the water was up to her waist.
OLYMPIA, Wash. — Five Olympia firefighters rescued a woman trapped in mud near Squasheen Park on Wednesday as tides rose around her, highlighting the dangers of tidal flats in the area.
A 911 call came in around noon, with dispatchers reporting the woman was stranded near Ellis Bay Beach with water up to her waist and mud up to her thighs.
Rescuers said she tried to walk from beach to beach when she became trapped – and the harder she struggled, the deeper she sank.
“We’re in a race against time,” said Olympia Fire Lt. Steven Bass. “At high tide, the water must have been above her head.”
A boat from the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, which happened to be conducting training at the time, helped Olympia firefighters find the woman.
Rescuers deployed special equipment called mud boards to stabilize the two firefighters on the unstable mudflats while three other firefighters on the boat worked together to pull the woman to safety. She was not injured.
Lt. Bass said his department responds to several similar calls each year, and he explained why victims are left with little to do to save themselves without assistance.
“You can’t get out of a situation without someone pulling you or you pulling something else,” he said. “The harder you work, the more you sink. It just keeps going and going. There’s no hard pan you can push off.”
Firefighters used the incident as a reminder of the serious and under-recognized risks to the region’s coastlines.
“Everything around the coast is tidal flats, and unless you’re somewhere that’s never seen a tide, everything is going to be soft,” Lieutenant Bass warned.
As warmer weather draws more visitors to outdoor areas, the Olympia Fire Department urges the public to enjoy mudflats from a safe distance and stay away from them entirely.
