On Friday, December 02, 2011, at 1547 hours, Sandy Spring VFD units… Medic 704, Rescue Squad 704, Aerial Tower 740, Boat 704, Air Boat 740, Chief 704, and Chief 704 Echo, along with Battalion Chief 704 and Special Ops Chief 700 responded to the report of a missing person on the Triadelphia Reservoir. Units responded to the Greenbridge Boat Ramp (Montgomery County side), where the person was last reported to be.

Chief 704 arrived on scene and established command. Boat 704 launched and went to the point last seen. Air Boat 740 launched second, conducted a search, and was assigned water group by command. Other boats utilized for the search was Boat 729 (Germantown), Boat 731 (Rockville), Howard County Boat 11, and Howard County Boat 5.

Sandy Spring VFD’s new All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV 740) was utilized for searching the many miles of trails and shoreline that surround the Reservoir.

Other units on scene included: Brush 740, Canteen 740, Command Post 727, Recon 731,  Boat Support 729, Howard County Engine 111, Howard County Medic 115, Maryland State Police Helicopters Trooper- 2 and 3, Montgomery County Police Emergency Service Unit (ESU) Trucks 1 and 2, ESU Supervisor, WSSC Police and workers, and MNCPPC Police Mounted Patrol

Search And Rescue continued late into the evening, as SSVFD and GVFD personnel are trained in waterborne night operations. The shore based search operations also continued late into the night.

Operations continued under a unified command structure for almost two weeks involving several teams and agencies until the missing person’s remains were recovered. Many search and recovery techniques were deployed to include Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR), Thermal Imaging, Sonar, Side Scan Sonar, Under Water Cameras, Public Safety Divers, K-9, Water Borne K-9, SAR Teams, Aircraft, and much, much more!

Sandy Spring would like to thank all involved in the search and recovery operations, especially the WSSC employees who gave of their time and efforts to bring their co-worker home.

We would also like to remind citizens that it is important to not only have the proper PFDs on board but that wearing them while on the water is just as important!

Photos (Courtesy of Thomas Kelley and Fire Fighter Phillip Smith, unless otherwise noted: Click HERE




Media Stories (with articles, pictures, and/ or video):

http://wusa9.com/video/default.aspx?bctid=1306948045001

                                        

http://wusa9.com/news/article/177770/158/Boater-WSSC-Employee-Missing-In-The-Tridelphia-Reservoir-in-Montgomery-County

 

http://www.wusa9.com/news/photo-gallery.aspx?storyid=177772

 

http://www.gazette.net/article/20111203/NEWS/712039995/1022/sweeping-search-continues-for-missing-utility-employee&template=gazette


http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/news/local/rescue-effort-ends-at-reservoir-for-missing-wssc-worker-120411