WALLAND, Tenn. — The Blount County Fire Protection District said three people were rescued after crews responded to a possible drowning call near Peery's Mill Dam Tuesday evening.
Captain Jason Stinnett said the first call came in at around 7:39 p.m. about a man who needed help, but that call was canceled soon after.
A few minutes later after it was canceled, he said another call came in from near the dam that said a woman needed help. She was holding onto the wall of the dam, Stinnett said. He also said two other women appeared to fall into the dam while trying to help the first woman.
Stinnett said that the back-to-back calls show just how dangerous this dam can be.
"If you get into that, your chances of getting that out are very slim, to none," Stinnett said.
Due to the higher temperatures during the summer, crews are expecting to see more swimmers at the dangerous location. Stinnett urged swimmers to find an alternative to the potentially deadly dam.
"There's a ton of other swimming holes that I'd encourage people to go to. We've got some of the most beautiful lakes in the area that I'd encourage others to go to," he said.
Roger Murphy, a coordinator for the Blount Special Operations Response Team, was one of the responders on the scene.
"A young lady was pulled in by the current and got trapped," said Murphy. "She was just about to go over, two other young ladies kind of worked their way from the other side of the dam to her to stabilize her. But nobody could go anywhere, they were stuck."
Murphy said there were four people rescued, including his own rescuer who almost lost his life trying to save the girls.
He said the first call was for a young man who had gone over the dam and gone under, with initial crews responding in order to rescue him.
"Some civilians got him out and actually did CPR and he was transported to UT," said Murphy.
Murphy also emphasized that the hydraulic forces of the dam can catch people and pull them down to the bottom, "and tear them apart."
Stinnett said all three were safely pulled from the dam. A rescuer was taken to the hospital with minor injuries, he said.
Stinnett also emphasized that the Peery's Mill Dam can create dangerous underwater currents that trap people, drowning them. Several other drownings have been reported at the dam in the past, including one that killed a 33-year-old man in 2018. It is a low-head dam, which creates deceptive underwater currents.