Subscribe RH Love

Wylie F-R performs water rescue

by | Jun 3, 2015 | Latest

By Joe Reavis

Staff Writer

[email protected]

 

Training paid dividends early Friday morning when the Swift Water Rescue Team of Wylie Fire-Rescue took its hovercraft into floodwaters to retrieve a motorist stranded on Miles Road in Sachse.

The successful rescue came about 6:30 a.m. as a woman, whose vehicle was submerged, was assisted off the roof of her vehicle into the hovercraft and taken to safety. The woman had attempted to negotiate a flooded road when her vehicle stalled.

Wylie Fire Chief Brent Parker reports that the department received a call from Sachse to help a police officer who was also stranded in the same area, but ended up rescuing the woman because the threat to her was greater.

“Hers was the more imminent danger,” Parker said.

The chief explains that the officer became trapped by rising floodwater which was lapping at the doors of his patrol unit, while the woman’s car was already submerged. A Department of Public Safety helicopter crew rescued the police officer.

Parker noted that the Garland Swift Water Rescue Team, with which Wylie officers train, also was at the scene of the woman’s rescue.

In spite of all the flooding in the area over the past several weeks, the fire chief reported that the only emergency call in which his personnel were active was the Friday morning event.

He explained that flooding tended to occur during nighttime storms and, for the most part, waters had receded from roads by the time traffic developed for morning commutes.

Wylie rescue personnel were called for standby in Celina and McKinney recently but did not have to put their skills to work.

Subscriber Love 728x90

0 Comments

Subscribe RH Love

Related News

Events planned to support local nonprofit

Events planned to support local nonprofit

The Wylie Chamber of Commerce is hosting an opportunity to support a worthy cause and connect with the community. The annual Christian Care Breakfast, set to take place on Tuesday, Nov. 19, from 8:30 to 10 a.m. at The Cross Church Commons, located at 240 E Marble...

read more
Veterans know freedom is never free

Veterans know freedom is never free

Mark Witham, curator of the Military Heritage Collection of North Texas, displays a Marine dress uniform, one of several he provides for veterans needing a uniform to be buried in. Bob Wieland/C&S Media It doesn’t look like much from the outside, but a museum in...

read more
CCAD nominees approved by Commissioners Court

CCAD nominees approved by Commissioners Court

Collin County Commissioners Court on Monday approved a list of county residents who have been nominated by various taxing entities to serve on the Collin Central Appraisal District board of directors. An election is slated to occur no later than Dec. 15, at which time...

read more
Case of missing Wylie woman declared critical

Case of missing Wylie woman declared critical

Wylie police searched a second day for a woman last seen Sunday night -- and have upgraded her case to that of a critical missing person. The woman, 45-year-old Melonie Ballenger, was last seen walking near Country Club Road and Lakefield Road at 11 p.m. on Nov. 3,...

read more
Order photos