Local Child Rescued by Leggett Valley Firefighter After Vehicle Ends Up in Rattlesnake Creek

Abram Hill in 2019 after finding the lost Carrico sisters.

On Friday, December 13, the Humboldt Communications Center received multiple 9-1-1 calls reporting a crash involving two vehicles that had overturned into Rattlesnake Creek near Spy Rock Road on US Highway 101 during heavy rain just before 5pm yesterday evening.

Todd McKay, 47, of Garberville, was driving a Toyota 4-Runner northbound on the highway when his vehicle reportedly hydroplaned. The 4-Runner veered off the roadway, overturned, and slid into the southbound lane, colliding with a Toyota Rav 4 driven by Anthony Fair, 56, of Philo. Both vehicles careened down an embankment and into Rattlesnake Creek, landing upside down and nearly submerged as the creek level rose rapidly due to the storm.

According to Tamera McCanless, Lieutenant Commander with the California Highway Patrol Garberville Substation: “Good Samaritans Barrett Thomas and Abram Hill (an off-duty volunteer firefighter with Leggett Valley Fire and Rescue and Piercy Volunteer Fire Department) were driving separately through the area when they noticed vehicle debris in the roadway. Both pulled over and checked down the embankment.”

McCanless explained, “Thomas pulled Fair and his son to safety out of the creek and noticed McKay’s vehicle downstream. Hill jumped from the creek bank onto the upside-down vehicle just as two of McKay’s children emerged from the vehicle. Hill helped the children to the creek bank as McKay emerged from the vehicle with his 4-year-old child. Hill helped McKay and his child up to the side of US 101.”

She went on to say, “Hill recognized the 4-year-old was not breathing and did not have a pulse. Hill and Thomas began CPR. Not long after starting CPR, the 4-year-old’s pulse returned, and shortly after, the 4-year-old was breathing without assistance.”

Thanks to their efforts, the child’s pulse returned, and they soon began breathing unassisted. The 4-year-old was transported to Howard Memorial Hospital and later to UC Davis Medical Center, where they are expected to make a full recovery. All other occupants of the vehicles sustained only minor injuries.

The Garberville CHP Office expressed deep gratitude to Hill and Thomas for their quick, heroic actions that saved the child’s life.

Leggett and Piercy Firefighters: A Legacy of Heroism
Volunteer firefighters from the Leggett and Piercy Fire Departments have a long history of lifesaving efforts in Northern Mendocino County. They were instrumental in the 2019 search for the missing Carrico sisters and the 2020 rescue of a 3- year-old child who was found alive after five days following a suspicious crash.

Abram Hill and Delbert Chumley soon after finding the missing Carrico girls in 2019. [Crop of a photo by Lauren Schmitt]

To donate to Leggett Valley Fire Department, you can reach out via email at: [email protected].

To donate to Piercy Fire Department, please send a check to:
80401 CA-271, Piercy, CA.

Earlier Chapters on Missing Mother and Child:

• Major Injury Crash North of Leggett on Hwy 101
• Woman and Child Missing After Major Injury Accident South of Confusion Hill
• Mother and Child Still Missing After Crash North of Leggett; Family Asks for Help
• Searchers Looked Yesterday for Missing Mother and Child and Will Look Again Today
• Ambulance and Officers Responding North of Leggett to a Report That Possibly the Missing Mother and Child Were Located
• Friends Confirm That Woman and Child Missing After a Crash Near Confusion Hill Have Been Located

Earlier Chapters on Missing Sisters:

• Ongoing Search and Rescue for Two Young Girls in the Twin Trees Area of Southern Humboldt
• Sheriff’s Department Releases More on the Missing Girls in Humboldt County
• FBI and Child Abduction Team Consulting in Case of Missing Girls
• Have You Seen Us? Public Asked to Share Flyer About Missing Girls
• Private Drone ‘Almost Caused a Serious Incident’ With Search Helicopter Looking for Leia and Caroline
• A Worried Community Eager to Find Missing Girls
• 44 Hours After Two Little Girls Went Missing, They’re in Their Parents’ Arms