(Chron) – As Harris County prepares for heavy rain, the Houston Fire Department deployed its new water strike team for possible flooding rescues. In a news release Tuesday, officials with the department said it would staff nine high-water rescue vehicles across the region, with four of the tall trucks in each quadrant of the city, and the five remaining vehicles to be deployed as needed. The water rescue team would also be conducting community assessments with drones, and have 20 evacuation boats, 11 rescue boats, three
Achilles boats, nine Wave Runners (jet skis) and 25 trucks with trailers available to handle rescues, if necessary. Department leadership also said they were placing two rescue swimmers on a Houston Police Department helicopter. HFD’s water rescue fleet has grown significantly in the years since Hurricane Harvey, when it had just one high water rescue vehicle available for rescues. After a Houston Chronicle investigation revealed major inadequacies in its rescue fleet, the city of Houston spent $2 million to give firefighters better water rescue training, doubled the size of its boat fleet, and added eight new high water rescue trucks. READ MORE
