A distraught man made a cell phone call and then put his dog out of his vehicle before driving headlong into the lake water at the Lake Oroville Spillway boat launch ramp, Saturday.

After an extensive rescue effort by emergency response personnel, the man was pronounced dead at the scene.

An eyewitness said the driver of the SUV, a 1997 green Mercury Mountaineer, had been parked facing the water at the ramp and was talking on a cell phone. He then let his dog out of the vehicle and hit the accelerator, plunging the SUV straight into the lake water next to the dock at the Spillway boat launch area.

Both windows of the vehicle were rolled down, and eyewitnesses said the vehicle quickly became submerged into the water.

A caller dialed 9-1-1 at 6:02 p.m. and reported the vehicle had plunged into the lake water, and the driver was still inside the vehicle.

Emergency response units, including First Responder paramedics, Cal Fire/Butte County, and Butte County Sheriff's Search and Rescue dive teams were immediately dispatched to the spillway boat launch area.

Engine 64 with Engineer Ryan Hemstalk, Engineer Mark O'Neil, and Firefighter Mike Heyfron, were first to arrive on scene at 6:10 a.m.

First Responder paramedics and Battalion Chief Russ Fowler, the incident commander from Cal Fire, also arrived quickly to the scene.

Engineer Hemstalk and California State Parks and Recreation Officer Zack Chamber dove into the water and attempted a rescue effort immediately upon arrival.

"The vehicle was submerged next to the dock about 20 feet down in the water, and the vehicle was upside down," said Battalion Chief Fowler. "The divers were in rescue mode the whole time hoping to save the driver of the vehicle. We could see the vehicle and the driver was partially hanging out of the driver's side of the vehicle. His seatbelt was on, and the divers cut the seatbelt."

The two divers were in the water at 6:10 p.m. and were able to cut the seatbelt by about 6:20 p.m. The divers emerged with the driver and had him on the dock by 6:30 p.m.

The divers brought him up to the surface of the water and laid him on the dock, but he was pronounced dead by the First Responder paramedics. The diver's color was white ashen, he had no pulse, and he was not breathing. It was estimated he had been under water for about 30 minutes.

California State Parks and Recreation Superintendent Denise Reichenberg explained how the vehicle turned upside down in the water. "When the vehicle was driven into the water, it hit the side of the dock and the weight of the engine caused the vehicle to roll over into the water, so it was upside down and submerged," she said.

A relative of the deceased arrived at the boat launch ramp and told witnesses the deceased had called him on his cell phone just prior to driving into the lake. The driver asked him to come to the spillway boat launch to pick up his dog who he let out of his vehicle before driving into the lake.

Butte Country Sheriff's Office and Search and Rescue volunteers assisted in recovering the vehicle from the lake. Butte County Sheriff's Deputy Chuck Lair wore a scuba tank and a dry suit, and he dove into the water and checked to see if there were any other occupants in the vehicle. He did not find anyone else in the vehicle, and then he wrapped a cable around the front axle of the vehicle, which was then hooked up to a Brower's Tow Truck.

Deputy Lair then swam up to the surface of the water near the dock trying to avoid the oil slick that had formed on the water's surface. BCSO Search and Rescue volunteers Captain Mike Larish, Tim Chisholm, Brett Eagen, and Matt Pearce were also at scene and assisted in the recovery of the vehicle.

Butte County Sheriff's Deputy Sgt. Mike Lydon said the case was an "apparent suicide," and the name of the deceased could not be released pending notification of next of kin.

Battalion Chief Fowler called for the Butte County Interagency Hazardous Materials Unit to the scene to mitigate the oil and gasoline spill that resulted from the vehicle being in the water. A chemical boom was also used to absorb some of the fuel spill.

This rescue effort and recovery of the vehicle in the water was executed under a unified command with California State Parks and Recreation and Cal Fire handling the rescue effort while Butte County Sheriff's deputies and Search and Rescue volunteers, California State Parks and Recreation and the California Highway Patrol were involved in the recovery of the vehicle.

Cal Fire's Engine 63 from Headquarters Station 63 was also at scene with Captain Matt Rouse and Engineer Joe Chavez. Brower's towing pulled the vehicle out of the water, and the Haz Mat unit conducted mop-up operations on the fuel spill.