Friday, June 3, 2011
On Friday, June 3, 2011 at 1730, Air Boat 740, Boat 704,
Ambulance 740, Medic 704, Rescue Squad 717, Ambulance 717, Howard County Engine
52, Boat 5 and their Dive Team (Mutual
Aid) responded to the Triadelphia
Reservoir near Sunshine, MD for a reported missing swimmer. LDVFD Chief 717 arrived on scene and
established “Triadelphia Command”, and sent a crew and command officer to where
the victim was last spotted. SSVFD Chief 704 assumed the “Launch Group” and Air
Boat 740 was the first boat to launch, while Howard County Boat 5 Launched from
the Howard County side at Big Branch Boat Ramp. Boat 704 and Boat 725 launched
shortly after. MD State Helicopter Trooper 3 assisted with the search as well
as Mont. Co. Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) K9s and Strike Team 730 & 710
from Cabin John Park. Units remained on the water into the night until command
called off the search at 2030hrs. for rescuer safety.
Air Boat 740 showed its capabilities in the search by being
able to reach all areas of the reservoir where other boats could not go due to
shallow waters. Air Boat 740 also served as an excellent dive platform for
Howard County Station 5’s Dive Team, utilizing the large front deck and open sides.
SSVFD Volunteers continued the search on Saturday, June 4,
at 0900 with Air Boat 740, Boat 704, along with Boat 729 (Germantown VFD),
three USAR personnel and their K9, and Howard County Station 5’s Dive Team. The
K9 was utilized to find a specific area where the victim may be located. HC
Dive-5 searched the area the USAR K9 identified. The boats searched all over
the reservoir until 1700 hours.
SSVFD Volunteers then continued searching Sunday, June 5
from 0900 until 1300, Monday, June 6 from 0900 until 1400, and Tuesday at 0900
until the missing individual was found shortly thereafter. Volunteers had
planned to search every day until the victim could be found.
All recovery efforts were led by Fire Chief 704 (Chief
Brown) from Saturday until the victim was found Tuesday Morning.
SSVFD would like to remind everyone, including strong
swimmers, not to swim in reservoirs, lakes, or other bodies of water. It is
very dangerous and SSVFD would like everyone have to have a safe summer!
Please click HERE for more photos!
