Fayette County Swiftwater/Flood Response Team

Today the water rescue team was inspected and is now certified as a VRSR level 2A swift water rescue team. This certification examines our personnel, equipment, and training levels and readiness for response. Our team is made up of members from the Fayette County Hazardous Materials Team, Brownsville Fire Company #1, Dawson VFC and Luzerne Twp VFC and is currently equipped with 2 boats and multiple other pieces of equipment. ... Huge thank you to our members who worked hard for this certification and a special thank you to logisitcs coordinator Ryan Huhn and all of our other members for their hard work in organizing this inspection.

Last evening, our swift water rescue team was deployed into parts of Uniontown City, South Union Twp, and German Twp (Fayette County) to assist with the flood a...ssessment and evacuation of homes and businesses that were affected by major flash flooding in the area. Teams from other in-county fire companies also assisted in collaboration with the Fayette County Swiftwater/Flood Response Team. Assistant Chief Richard Black Lieutenant Josh Lawver Chaplain Jake Bush Driver/Operator Joe Zosky Affiliation Brandon Bailey

North Huntingdon water rescue, fire departments, and police have been actively involved in a search of Brush Creek near route 993 since last Saturday. Unfortuna...tely, the search has not been successful. We would like to thank the agencies that have been assisting us with this effort over the past 6 days. Murrysville Medic One, Monroeville Dive team, Fayette County Swiftwater/Flood Response Team, Westmoreleand water rescue team 175, Baldwin Emergency Medical Service, Glassport Fire Department - Station 161, Larimer VFD, Penn Township Ambulance Association, Sutersville Volunteer Fire Department, and North Huntingdon Township Emergency Management. See more

Today members of the team assisted North Huntingdon EMS Rescue with a search mission. We were blessed to have one of our members serve as the safety officer for the operation as well as our resident instructor to assist with the operations and offer technical guidance to the crews in managing this difficult operation.

Deployment in Westmoreland County assisting in recovering 3-300lb Propane Tanks with North Huntington Swift Water Rescue. 9/10/18

PIO Chuck Gasti is featured in this video at our Frosty Frolic assist this year. Thanks ladies for the publicity.

Today another group of brave souls braved the chilly temperatures and snow falling in Mount Independance and participated in their Ice Rescue class. For most of them this is their last training class to be technicians on our team. I appreciate each of them as well as Jamie Brelsford and his staff for coming out this way and teaching them the lifesaving skills of this special rescue. Now to continue our training and have them ready to respond when needed. Thanks to you all for your dedication and service to the county and our team.

Today 4 of our technicians had the opportunity to provide in water support for the 2018 Frosty Frolic to benefit California School District Foundation. Water temperatures were 40 degrees! It is always a pleasure to support these folks and provide safety for the participants.

The Fayette County SWFRT is proud to sponsor a Water Rescue for the 1st Responder class tonight at Hiller Volunteer Fire Company. We had over 50 people in attendance. Thank you to all that attended to make their communities safer.

There is a team meeting planned for Sunday October 15th at 1830 hours at the EMA Annex. Members are asked to attend as there are several important items to be discussed. Please RSVP to Jim so that he has a count. He will be providing pizza at the meeting.

Busy weekend for our crews. Several evacuations and rescues from 630 Friday night until around midnight and then more members responded to Washington County to assist Valley Inn fire department and several other departments and teams with active rescues including a male trapped on a vehicle roof in rising flood waters and several welfare checks as well. Then Saturday led to more activations for people that truly do not understand the dangers of powerful and rising water or how dangerous it can be. Please folks use common sense and keep our team members and their family in your prayers we have seen above normal action this year.

Team members should check their equipment and prepare for potential deployments this weekend. Rainfall and flooding is possible.

It was a pleasure for our team to once again participate in the EMSI Region 4 Strike Team exercise today. We took 6 technicians with us to test various skills. It is always a pleasure to provide support to these men and women whenever they are in Fayette County. Thanks for the invite!