MIDLAND, Md. — Members of the newly formed swift water rescue team of the Bruceton-Brandonville Volunteer Fire Department got their feet wet this week, literally.
Formed only about two months ago, the team is finishing up training and lining up equipment. However, when the call for help in western Maryland went out Tuesday, the seven member team was ready to go. They embedded with members of the swift water rescue team at the Masontown VFD also in Preston County and headed to the community of Midland, Maryland.
“There were departments from all over Maryland and West Virginia which showed up to help. A lot of houses were surrounded by water and needed to get the people out of those houses,” said Chief John Vincent of the Bruceton-Brandonville VFD.
The team was involved in two separate rescue missions. One involved getting an elderly woman out of her home and into safety. The second was a much more involved effort to evacuate residents of an apartment complex as the water was rising quickly.
“It took several trips back and forth. I’d say we were operating on that scene for approximately two hours,” said Chief Vincent.
He added, there were some factors at the apartment which complicated things.
“We had several smaller children involved that we had to get back over to safety,” he explained.
Each of the children was carefully outfitted in a lifejacket and secured in a raft along with all adults who were evacuated to get them out of harm’s way.
According to Vincent, the leader of the Masontown team is the instructor who has been training members of his department’s team. He said it was good to have him right there as they performed their first ever swift water rescues under heavy pressure.
“He was on scene with us and did a good job of keeping our guys safe and showing us the ropes,” said Vincent.