Bathurst emergency services: Rescued after trying to cross swollen Fish River

Chifley Police District duty officer Inspector Glenn Cogdell said police, SES crews and paramedics were called to the scene around 4pm.

He said a Ford Ranger, being driven by a 21-year-old Bathurst man, was travelling from O'Connell towards the Chifley Dam when, on a back road, it attempted to traverse the Fish River at a crossing.

"At the time the river was quite swollen from the recent rainfall and as the vehicle has gone to cross the river it has lost traction and subsequently drifted about 30 metres downstream before getting stuck," he said.

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Inspector Cogdell said the four occupants got out the Ranger and the vehicle continued to submerge with just a small portion of the car's roof line remaining above water.

He said the driver then got off the roof and swam to the opposite side of the river while the three passengers, another two men and a woman, remained on the roof of the vehicle.

Police, ambulance and SES were all called to the scene with the SES utilising their rubber rescue dinghy to safely extract all three persons from the car roof and the driver from the other side of the river.

The driver was checked by paramedics at the scene for hypothermia but did not require transportation to hospital.

Inspector Cogdell said the vehicle was being recovered from the river late on Sunday night and road closure signs were being erected by council at the crossing.

He said given recent heavy rains in the region, the incident was a reminder about the dangers of driving into flood waters.

"You can always replace a car, you can't replace a life," he said.

"As the SES are constantly reminding the community, if it's flooded, forget it.

"Don't drive through flood waters, it's just not worth the risk."