Drone Imaging Helped Rescue Teams Save A Life In Chesco During Ida Flooding

TREDYFFRIN TOWNSHIP, PA — Tredyffrin Township saw a dramatic rushing water rescue amid the worst of Hurricane Ida's flooding rainfall last week, as 10 fire and rescue teams and Chester County's 9-1-1 service worked bravely for four hours to save a life through a vehicle roof in extremely dangerous conditions.

The calls for water rescues started coming in during the afternoon on Wednesday, Sept. 1 as Hurricane Ida's rains fell on the already drenched ground. Just after 6 p.m., an alert went out for a water rescue along Valley Creek in the area of the Valley Forge National Historical Park Covered Bridge in Tredyffrin Township, Berwyn Fire Company reported.

During and after last week's storm, Valley Creek rose to 17 feet from its usual 2-3 feet, the report said.

Incident Commander and Berwyn Fire Company Chief Eamon Brazunas told Patch that in his 23 years in the Company, he’s done a lot of water rescues and fires, but this incident stood out as the greatest mental challenge.

Brazunas said coordinators went through a list of what could be done. As waters rose, they looked at rescue options. A boat launch or helicopter rescue were ruled out. He said the realization came that, “We're going to have to do the most dangerous thing to put someone in rushing water tethered.”

Berwyn's Battalion 2 went into the woods at Mt. Joy where they saw an abandoned vehicle with water up to its hood. Then, they spotted another one further downstream. Water was rising quickly on that vehicle, and the team could see there was a person inside.

As a rescue plan was in the works, assistance came from West Chester's Fame Fire Company, Friendship Fire Company Diving-Rescue Unit of Phoenixville, and Radnor Fire Company.

The first, abandoned vehicle was carried off in the rushing water and struck the one that was occupied, nearly rolling it over, before it came to rest another 1,000 feet downstream from the Valley Forge National Forest Covered Bridge, Berwyn Fire Company reported.

Rescuer Evan Brazunas had to be tethered on the back of his personal flotation device, jumping into the water about 25 yards upstream of the vehicle and then swimming as hard as he could to get onto the vehicle, the BFD report said.

The Berwyn Fire Chief explained, "In these situations, there is debris in the water tree limbs, trash, it's not like you're in a pool.”

It took three tries before the rescuer could make it onto the vehicle after being briefly pulled under the water and then not being able to grab on top of the vehicle. The rescuer gave the trapped driver a flotation device and then got them on the roof of the vehicle and harnessed with a rope system.

Friendship Fire Company 2 in Phoenixville brought in drone imaging that provided light and sight, in real-time, as Brazunas and the team strategized how to execute the rescue.

"Saying stuff is one thing, seeing it is something else. We got lucky that they and the Phoenixville Fire Department were available," Chief Brazunas said.

"This was a critical element in managing the scene and assisted the Incident Commander in having a better understanding of real-time conditions," the report explained.

The effort to move the driver through and out of the water to safety took nearly an hour, until 8:48 p.m. Once the victim was out of the vehicle, rescuers worked diligently to move the victim several hundred feet up to S. Inner Line Drive; they had to pull the person up the steep slope of Mt. Joy to the road above - in a basket, to awaiting EMS personnel. It took until 9:45 p.m., the report said.

“Thankfully the person was a small adult,” Eamon Brazunas said. “It was really labor-intensive, after three attempts to get to the vehicle, then get the person out.”

Berwyn EMS checked on several of the exhausted rescuers as Paoli EMS worked on the victim.

More emergency personnel from the Phoenixville Fire Department and Valley Forge Volunteer Fire Company were set up in the area of the Rt. 23 Valley Creek Bridge with another safety team in place, Berwyn Fire Company reported. The presence of available personnel was “almost a fluke,” though, said Chief Brazunas. He explained some of the other companies happened to be in between other calls, so were able to come out.

Barricades were set up afterward, as crews cleaned up at nearly 11 p.m. The road remains closed.

"Every responder on this scene was working in some capacity and made a difference in a life being saved during this complex rescue. Slippery conditions, heavy rain, rocks, fallen trees, steep terrain, and darkness were some of the challenges rescuers worked through during the over four-hour rescue operation," the Berwyn Fire Company said.

Eamon Brazunas pointed out that a whole team had awaited downstream during the rescue, in case it failed and the victim or rescuers — or both — got swept away in the water. “The downstream rescue team couldn't see anything but had to be ready if something went wrong. They were the unsung heroes who backed us up,” Brazunas said.

Chief Brazunas also explained that a deliberate effort to get trained over the last five years has paid off in this and several other incidents recently. “It really highlights how you've gotta know what you're doing. This was true peril."

“When people call 9-1-1 everything's an emergency, of course. But few are at this level. It was intense for sure,” said Eamon Brazunas, who is the brother of Evan Brazunas.

Chief Brazunas also said that he hopes people will give an extra hand to the people in Downingtown, who got hit really hard with the overflowing of Brandywine Creek.

Berwyn Fire Company's report with more photos and video of the rescue can be viewed here.

The following agencies had a part in the rescue:

• Berwyn Fire Company - Station 2 / Station 102
• Fame Fire Company (West Chester) - Station 53
• Valley Forge Volunteer Fire Company - Station 68
• Phoenixville Fire Department - Station 65
• Friendship Fire Company Diving-Rescue Unit (Phoenixville) - Station 77
• Radnor Fire Company - Delco Station 15
• Paoli Fire Company EMS & Fire Police - Station 3
• Malvern Fire Company EMS - Station 4
• Valley Forge Park Rangers
• Chester County Department of Emergency Services 9-1-1 Center (Dispatchers, Call Takers).

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