Fayette County Swiftwater/Flood Response Team

Fayette County Swiftwater/Flood Response Team In 2006 Fayette County EMA decided that there was a need for trained personnel to respond in the county for incidents of water rescue and we were formed.

The Fayette County SWR/FRT started as a part of the Fayette County EMA under the FCHMRT. It was determined by the County EMA that an easier approach was to enter mutual aid agreements with local fire departments and train them and augment their equipment to establish a specialized team able to respond on any technical rescues within Fayette County or the surrounding region and the state. Once this

was accomplished and training was completed, the team was ready to deploy. In 2011 members of the team embarked as part of a task force deployed to assist in Eastern PA with Hurricane Irene and its impact on PA. Almost 2 weeks later the team was called upon again to respond for Tropical Storm Lee as the eastern PA counties were embracing for its impact. In addition to this several local incidents have seen the team requested to utilize special equipment for complex rescues. Currently there are approximately 40 personnel trained with over 30 of them trained to the technician level.

04/12/2024

Fayette County SWRT 970 just cleared a mutual aid request into Washington County for severe flooding. The team responded with 14 technicians, 2 boats and had a mutual aid from a local FD in the county with 3 techs and a boat. We assisted in Canton Twp, Bentleyville Borough and Marianna Borough. Thank you to all of our volunteers that responded.

04/02/2024

The members of the Fayette County Swiftwater/Flood Response Team are currently standing by should we be needed. Members have been polled for availability over the next 8 hour operational period and team leadership will continously evaluate staffing and be prepared to respond. All members should spend some time readying their PPE and ensuring their night ops equipment is functional. We ask our residents to please not drive through ANY water on the roadways this evening.

Today some of our members had the opportunity to be present at the Heritage Scout Reservation in Whaton Twp to assist ou...
08/02/2023

Today some of our members had the opportunity to be present at the Heritage Scout Reservation in Whaton Twp to assist our friends with the Pennsylvania State Police and their Troop B Camp Cadet program! We enjoy this opportunity every year to be included. Thank you to the troopers, cadets and their families for this wonderful opportunity.

06/16/2023

Last evening at 2307 hours Ohio Valley Sector of the USCG requested a search on the Monongahela River in the area of milemarker 70.8 for a kayak and PFD that were recovered by a Commercial Tow Vessel that was underway in the river. They were unsure if a person was missing, in distress or it was an unoccupied small craft. The County EMA received the call from the dispatch center and contacted the OVS communications and were briefed and a decision was made to dispatch local fire resources to interview residents in the area of the point it was located and see if anyone was missing the watercraft and also if anyone was overdue in that area. Team leadership activated our mutual aid agreements and 2 rescue boats from Luzerne Twp VFC and Adah VFD were launched with crews. The PFD was recovered as was the watercraft, ground crews interviewed residents and located the owners and it was confirmed that there was no person missing. The watercraft was returned to it's owner and the crews cleared after about 2 hours.

Members of the Fayette County SWFRT provided assistance to our friends at the California School District Foundation agai...
02/04/2023

Members of the Fayette County SWFRT provided assistance to our friends at the California School District Foundation again this year for their annual Frosty Frolic. It is a privilege and honor every year to assist with this community event for such a great cause.

Photo Credits: Brownsville Ambulance Service

08/03/2022

Members of the Fayette County Swiftwater/Flood Response Team were honored to join forces today with the fine members of PA State Police Troop B Camp Cadet staff and present a demonstration on water rescue. Five members of the team participated and had a wonderful time with the fabulous kids and staff. Thank you to all for your invitation.

08/31/2021

Leaders are busy preparing for the pending arrival of Tropical Depression Ida. Equipment is being serviced and checked, incident action plans are being developed including deployment plans that will prepare us to be available both locally in the county and available to deploy as a Type 2A Water Rescue asset regionally, including into our mutual aid areas. We are leaning forward and are mission capable as of 1500 tomorrow and will remain on alert until we are sure that we can safely stand down.

08/30/2021

Please factor the arrival of Ida to our area as you make your weekly plans.

07/20/2020

Congratulations to the members of the Dawson VFC on their successful search and rescue of a lost female that was rafting with friends on the Yough river Saturday night and was separated and her raft was deflating. The female was located with assistance of the Fayette County 911 dispatchers and the Perry Twp VFD. Mutual aid assistance was enroute from the County Tean to assist.

12/18/2019

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.

Address

Uniontown, PA
15401

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