Fredericksburg Fire Dept. Assist In River Rescues

Fredericksburg Fire Department units assisted other area fire and rescue departments in rescuing three people from the middle of the Rappahannock River Thursday night.

Mike Jones, the city's fire department spokesman, said the three people were all on rocks in the river when they were rescued. No one was injured.

At 8:03 p.m., Fredericksburg Fire Department units were alerted for a water rescue call in the 300 block of Riverside Drive. Fredericksburg units arrived a short time later along with Stafford County units that had already been dispatched.  Both departments worked together to rescue the people from the river. Jones said all three victims were on a rock and did not want to attempt to come to shore by themselves. 

"They were tired and cold from being on the river," he said.

Stafford units deployed rescue swimmers to make the rescue and Fredericksburg units had additional personnel standby as safety back-ups.  Fredericksburg units also deployed an inflatable boat to help with the rescue. 

"Additional personnel were placed downstream with throw ropes to act as a safety back up in case one or more of the people were washed downstream," Jones said. "The rescue swimmers made contact with the people and placed them in life jackets and readied them for the trip back to shore.  One of the subjects was escorted back to shore by a rescue swimmer.  The other two gentlemen were placed in the inflatable boat and brought downstream to an extraction point near Diving Rock."

All units were clear from the scene in less than one hour.

The Fredericksburg Fire Department provides the following safety tips related to water safety in general.

• Learn to swim. The best thing anyone can do to stay safe in and around the water is to learn to swim. Always swim with a buddy; never swim alone. Swim in areas supervised by a lifeguard.
• Read and obey all rules and posted signs.
• Children or inexperienced swimmers should take precautions, such as wearing a U.S. Coast Guard-approved personal floatation device (PFD) when around the water.
• Watch out for the dangerous “too’s” – too tired, too cold, too far from safety, too much sun, too much strenuous activity.
• Be knowledgeable of the water environment you are in and its potential hazards, such as deep and shallow areas, currents, depth changes, obstructions and where the entry and exit points are located. The more informed you are, the more aware you will be of hazards and safe practices.
• Pay attention to local weather conditions and forecasts. Stop swimming at the first indication of bad weather.
• Use a feet-first entry when entering the water.

Fredericksburg Fire Department also helped with a hazardous materials event in Caroline County at Flying J truck plaza Thursday afternoon at about 2 p.m. for a chemical leak from a tractor-trailer unit.

Jones said Virginia Department of Emergency Management notified Fredericksburg Emergency Communications that they needed the city's Hazardous Materials Team. The Fredericksburg Fire Department’s Hazardous Materials Team responded and was on scene within 45 minutes. 

"The chemical was ammonia solution, a known corrosive," Jones said. "Team members, using chemical protective clothing made entry into the trailer two times, successfully stopped the leak and made the container safe for off loading. Once the container was off loaded from the truck, a hazardous material clean up contractor was called in to begin the process of cleaning the site and transferring the product."

No injuries were reported. The Fredericksburg units were on scene for about four hours