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Saturday October 15, 2005 - Water Rescue
After a record amount of rainfall the
Willimantic river swelled over its banks and flooded many roads in and
around Coventry. One stretch of Cider Mill road had almost 400 feet of
road surface covered by the rushing river. CVFA received a call in the
early afternoon of a vehicle stranded with the occupant still inside.
The first unit arrived on scene within minutes of dispatch to find a Stop
and Shop Pea Pod delivery truck right in the middle of the swollen river.
The truck was listing to the passenger side and the driver was still inside.
The driver was not injured and was instructed to stay inside the truck till
rescuers could reach him. Deputy Chief Rick Landry Car 108 established
command and immediately went to work affecting a rescue. Members from
South Coventry Station 8, North Coventry Station 11 and Eagleville Station 7
were on hand to assist in the operation. The Tolland County Support
vehicle Service 119 was also requested. Due to the rising water the
river at Cider Mill had reached the bridge. Car 108 decided to move
operations to the other side so as to not be trapped by the rising water.
The operation was a challenging one that tested the limits of our training
and equipment. The driver was safely removed from the truck and no
injuries were reported. The following pictures show the rescue effort.
Special thanks to Shawn from Mountain Air, a resident of Coventry and our HVAC
service provider for the awesome pictures! Enjoy.
Here is what we found when we arrived on scene. The truck drove into an area where the road had been washed away. Deputy Chief Rick Landry Car 108 in command of the scene. Eagleville Chief Chip Jordan Car 7 was also on scene to assist with the operation. Here is a shot of our new dive trailer and the rest of the apparatus on scene. A staging area was set up and all necessar equipment was brought into place. Here ther rescuers and back up team are getting geared up. Rescuers and support getting ready and geared up. Assistant Chief/Rescue Diver J. Carrilli and FF/Rescue Diver M. Dittrich the primary rescue team discuss the plan with C108. The rescue team discusses the plan with Tolland County Dive Team Commander N. Meikle RD219. You can see from this picture just how far the rescuers had to walk. There was no way to get a line across the water due to the large distance. Here the rescue team starts out in relative shallow and calm water. Here the team starts to encounter faster moving water. Walking became more difficult as the depth and current increased. As the team gets out further the increasing rope length starts to get pulled by the current causing a lot of tension on the line. Shore based line tenders assist in controlling the line. More tenders are added as the rescue team moves further out. You can see how quickly the water is rising, they were on dry land originally. FF/Rescue Diver L. McMurray and S. Pacholski are the back up team and ready for action. Here team is approaching the telephone pole which will be their tie off point before attempting to reach the truck. The current is very strong. Finally the team reaches the pole and ties off. The current is very strong here. J. Carilli makes for the truck while M. Dittrich stays at the pole controlling the line. This is the hardest part of the rescue due to the current. J. Carilli throws a line to the truck and the driver ties it off. This allows for a safer approach to the truck. The backup team is staged at the pole prior to extrication of the driver. M. Dittrich approaches the truck and outfits the driver with a harness, lifejacket and helmet. The driver is brougth out of the truck and tied off to the line. The rescue team brings the driver to the pole. The backup team is sent out. Here the team assisted by Car 7 brings the driver out. Here all team members and the rescued driver safely exit the water without incident. A job well done by all!
Here is what we found when we arrived on scene. The truck drove into an area where the road had been washed away.
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