Baltimore County rescue teams poised for Hurricane Irene response

As calls for flooded roads and other threats from Hurricane Irene start to trickle in tonight across Baltimore County, the monthly training exercises and years of experience of county emergency personnel will likely be put to the test.

Among those poised to react is the county's advanced tactical rescue team, based out of Texas Station, in Cockeysville.

Captain Charles Tudor said the team's 13 members are trained in everything from building collapses and swift-water events to confined-space rescues and land-collapses.

The rescue team trains on a weekly basis and also gets inserted into different areas via helicopter on a quarterly basis to train the rescue swimmers.

Texas Station houses a fire engine, ladder truck, and 2 paramedic units in addition to the 50-foot tractor-trailer that houses all of the rescue equipment and a pair of Zodiac-style, inflatable swiftwater boats.

"We use the boats quite a bit," Tudor said. "We get severe thunderstorms that bring minor flooding, but as far as any massive flooding, the last time was Hurricane Isabel."

Crews from the Arbutus and Kingsville volunteer fire companies supplement the advanced tactical rescue team's efforts.

Joe Backman, a firefighter and EMT at the Arbutus station, said they have nearly 40 people in their swiftwater team, which includes command, swiftwater techs, boat operators, and support staff.

The Arbutus company will also bring four inflatable boats, a mid-console motor boat, and an additional swiftwater boat.

According to Backman, they've had signup sheets since Wednesday, and will be fully staffed to man the engines and outfit the swiftwater team through Monday evening.

"We're going to be staffed, ready for everything," Backman said. "We're going to be running wherever they need us in the county."

Where each team ends up, or whether they'll stay together, will be determined over the weekend.

The county's full compliment of swiftwater rescue — including the teams from Texas Station, Arbutus, Kingsville, a dive rescue team from Middle River, and marine rescue teams from the Bowleys Quarter and Northpoint-Edgemere volunteer fire companies — are set to be deployed by the county's Emergency Operations Center.

The Emergency Operations Center coordinates efforts between all of the county agencies so as not to duplicate efforts, but for the rescue teams, Fire Chief John Hohman said having no control of their destinations is doubly important.

"They can't be on a call at an incident and be determining the scope of things at the same time," Hohman said. "We're here to prioritize things. It's all about command and control."