Crime & Safety

Six Water-Rescue Team Members Swamped in Patapsco River Flood

Firefighters from Arbutus and Texas stations have harrowing experience in rain-swollen Patapsco.

Members of two county fire department swift-water teams were overcome by the raging rain-swollen Patapsco River on the afternoon of Sept. 7 while attempting a rescue of a vehicle reportedly caught in flash flooding.

Six firefighters were dunked in the swiftly moving muddy water.

Sources tell Patch that at around 12:47 p.m. on Wednesday, the Arbutus Volunteer Fire Department (AVFD) received reports of a vehicle, possibly a van, that was in the water in the vicinity of Frederick and River roads in Catonsville.

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Flash flooding immersed Frederick Road under several feet of water overflowing the banks of the Patapsco River, temporarily closing the thoroughfare. 

AVFD dispatched a four-person swift-water rescue team to the scene, as well as a two-member team from the Texas career fire station.

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According to AVFD company commander Capt. Douglas Simpkins, Jr., when crews arrived at Frederick Road, no vehicle in distress could be seen.

Fearing that the vehicle may have been swept down the Patapsco River, AVFD's four-person crew put its boat in the water to investigate.

"The water was too much for them," Simpkins said. "The boat was going to capsize on them, so they had to bail out."

The four firefighters were able to get their boat to a bridge abutment, and floated in the water to shore.

When the first swift-water team ran into trouble, the two-person team from Texas station put their boat in the water to assist.

The waters proved too powerful for the second swift-water team, which also had to evacuate their boat before it capsized, Simpkins said.

One firefighter from the Texas station safely floated to dry land, while the second injured a shoulder and latched onto a tree surrounded by churning water until he could be rescued by colleagues.

All of the firefighters, who Simpkins declined to identify, were safely on land shortly after 3 p.m. The one firefighter who injured his shoulder was transported to a local hospital for treatment, he said.

The fate of the vehicle that triggered the series of events, if there was one, is unknown.


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