A woman nearly lost her life Wednesday at Squaxin Park after becoming trapped in a tidal mud flat near Ellis Cove beach — with water already at her waist and the tide still rising.
The 911 call came in around noon. The woman had tried to walk from one beach to another when the mud locked around her thighs. Every attempt to free herself made things worse.
“We were racing against time. There definitely would have been water over her head at full tide.” — Lt. Steven Busz, Olympia Fire
Five firefighters responded, aided by a state Department of Fish & Wildlife boat that happened to be nearby on a training run. Crews used a specialized mud board — a device that distributes weight across unstable ground — to reach the woman safely. She was pulled free without injury.
Lt. Busz explained why victims can’t escape on their own:
“There is no way to get yourself out without someone pulling you. The harder you try, the more you’re going to sink. There is no hard pan to push off of.”
His department responds to similar calls a few times each year. With warmer weather drawing more visitors to Olympia’s shorelines, fire officials are urging the public to stay off the mud flats entirely and admire them only from a safe distance.
Bottom line: If you’re visiting Olympia’s waterfront this summer — stick to dry land. The mud flats look harmless. They are not.
