RCFR Swiftwater Rescue Crew Deploying to South Carolina

Chief Larry Farley has announced that on Wednesday morning, Sept. 12, Swiftwater Rescue crews from Rutherford County Fire Rescue (RCFR) will be deploying to South Carolina in support of efforts related to the impact of Hurricane Florence. RCFR will be working with other Middle TN agencies to provide rescue capabilities, and any other disaster assistance as needed.

This request comes from FEMA and is a function of EMAC, The Emergency Management Assistance Compact, which is a mutual aid agreement among states and territories of the United States. It enables states to share resources during disasters. Four crew members from Rutherford County Fire Rescue will be joined by 4 from Wilson County EMA, and another 4 from MFRD to become a 12 man Type II team for this response. This team will be joining several other teams from Middle TN, East and West Tennessee. The deploying teams in Murfreesboro, will head to Nashville for a TEMA briefing before traveling to their destination at Fort McRady near Columbia, South Carolina.

RCFR will bring a rescue truck, all water rescue equipment to outfit the 4 crew members and a ‘sustainment trailer’ capable of providing temporary shelter and necessities for any deployed responders on site. Teams are expected to remain in South Carolina for approximately a week; subject to determination by FEMA.