2 stranded boys rescued by firefighters while biking in floodwaters on North Texas trail
Two North Texas teenagers were rescued Tuesday night by firefighters after getting stranded on a heavily flooded trail for several hours, according to the Denton Fire Department.
At around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, the fire department received a call for help from two 16-year-olds who were biking on the Greenbelt Corridor, a 20-mile trail that runs from Lake Ray Roberts to Lake Lewisville, between East Sherman Drive and U.S. 380.
According to Denton Fire spokesperson David Boots, the two teens were out food, water and daylight when they got stuck deep into the trail in an area that was flooded 7 to 9 feet above normal levels.
“It was a very, very dangerous area that they were trying to get through, trying to get down to Highway 380, and they just ran out of daylight and they couldn’t get their way out,” Boots told the Star-Telegram.
It took fire crews what Boots described as a “very long time” to locate the boys due to debris, mud and water from storms that hit the Denton area.
Fire crews used a drone to triangulate the location of the teens at around 11:25 p.m. before finally getting them on a boat and safely out of the creek at around 12:30 a.m. Neither the boys nor firefighters were injured.
Boots said firefighters got the boys out of the trail just minutes before another storm hit Denton.
“We were very grateful we were able to get them out in time,” Boots said.
The Greenbelt trail, which is normally open to the public, has been closed for weeks due to floods and debris that has piled up.
