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FAISON – A crew from Faison Fire and Rescue conducted its first major water rescue since Hurricane Florence in December, after a severe storm brought more than seven inches of rain causing flooding in various areas of town.
According to Fire Chief Lee Kennedy, a woman’s vehicle got submerged in water when she drove off the path in a farm right outside of town on US 117.
“She was taking on water in her vehicle,” said Kennedy, adding that the 911 call came in from a family member in Goldsboro at 4:53 a.m. on Dec. 18. “She didn’t know where she was.”
Within six minutes of the call, Kennedy, Ricky Cameron, Alex Chilel, and Andy Cameron were out of bed and at the fire station getting their gear to help the woman. The four men walked over a mile in cold water that went from ankle deep to almost waist deep wearing shorts and t-shirts.
Kennedy shared that it took them about 25 minutes to find the patient. “You don’t know if you’re walking in a ditch or if you’re walking in a field,” said Kennedy to the Duplin Journal as he described the rescue. “We knew the path was there, but we couldn’t see it. Matter of fact, we had to put a flashlight on a post so the fire truck, when it got there, knew where the path turned. So, it was like making a trail to it. But we had radios, and we were communicating. So, it was a big effort. It was the first time we have had a major water rescue since Hurricane Florence.”
“We were inundated with 7.6 inches of rain in less than about a 12- or 18-hour period. So, it was not fast-moving flash flood water. It was really still, but it was really cold, and it was still where we had to make use of our equipment to get to her.”
Once they found the patient, they were able to bring in the 5-ton military truck they were given for high-water rescues and got her to EMS.
“We were able to get her out and get her back out to safety. She did not speak English, but luckily, we have about five or six firefighters that are translators. They are Hispanic, and they do a great job on translating for us,” said Kennedy.
“We were able to actually get a couple of the workers to that farm to get a tractor, so they could transport workers back and forth to the farm,” said Kennedy.
“We had three water rescues the same night,” said Kennedy. “We had one off I-40 that was in a ditch full of water. We got that person out and earlier, about 1 o’clock that night, two females ran into a ditch, and the water was coming in on their car. So, we had to put a ladder down and get in the water to get them out.”
“It was that front that came through Florida and came up the coast and went straight up into the New England area, but it just inundated us with bands of rain. In fact, most of the water rescues happened when the rain was gone because the roads were flooded. It was crazy.”
