Two men and a woman were rescued from the rain-swollen Pacoima Wash in the North Hills and Van Nuys areas Thursday as one of the first significant rain storms of the season soaked Southern California.
The Los Angeles Fire Department responded about 9 a.m. Thursday to 15012 W. Parthenia St., east of Sepulveda Boulevard, and rescued the woman. She was in stable condition when taken to a hospital.
A man was also confirmed to be in the water, and a helicopter crew plucked him from the rushing floodwater in the area as other crews staged for additional possible rescues downstream, said LAFD spokeswoman Lyndsey Lantz.
He was flown directly to a hospital, Lantz said.
A short time later, firefighters using a ladder truck hoisted a third victim from the wash as he clung to a bridge abutment near Saticoy Street, she said.
Bystanders had reported a possible total of four people in the water, but a search turned up no additional victims, and the LAFD later concluded there were only three patients.