A woman who ventured into the tidal flats around Shoreline Park had to be pulled to safety by emergency crews after getting stuck waist deep in the mud on Thursday.
It took firefighters more than 40 minutes to get the woman out of the muck, about 30 m from the shore.
"The suction created by the mud makes it almost impossible to get out," said Port Moody fire chief Remo Faedo. "If you only get up to your ankles you can usually work your way out. She was up to her waist."
The rescue was further complicated by the fact that the tide was coming in. Faedo said 30 minutes after the rescue the water was about ten inches above the rescue site and rising.
Firefighters used ground ladders to access the woman, setting up a makeshift platform so that rescuers would not get stuck.
It took several shovels and a lot of pulling to eventually free the victim.
BC Ambulance Service was on the scene but Faedo said the woman did not suffer any injuries as a result of the incident.
