Oklahoma City Fire Fighters Rescue Dozens From Raging Floodwaters

June 18, 2010 – Meteorologists are calling the Oklahoma City rainfall a 500-year flood. Still, the City’s fire fighters were ready for it.

At about 3:00 a.m. on June 14, the rain began to fall – very hard. In just a few short hours, nearly 10 inches fell in the Oklahoma City area, turning streets into raging rivers, entire neighborhoods into lakes and countless first floors into brown pools.

Typical rainfall in Oklahoma for the entire month of June is about 4 inches. The June 14 torrent was a record day for rain in the state of Oklahoma.

By 5:00 a.m. the calls for rescue started rolling in.

Fire fighters in Oklahoma City were put to the test as dispatchers sent engines, ladders, boats and everything available in response to an estimated 200 calls for help. As the rain fell and the hours ticked by, broadcast news reports captured on video numerous dramatic rescues by Oklahoma City fire fighters.

By afternoon, fire fighters had completed 60 swift water rescues. Only one death was reported – a cab driver pinned against a bridge 80 miles south of Oklahoma City as he tried to push his car to safety.

Early morning commuters were stuck in cars as raging water crested windshields. Pedestrians by the dozens were swept up in the torrent of water, some scrabbling into tree branches and waiting for help, others climbing into attics and out onto rooftops to wait for help.

“What impressed me that day was that while the news footage showed many dramatic rescues, the fire fighters took it all in stride,” says 11th District Vice President Sandy McGhee. “They relied on their skills and training to perform when people needed them most. They were just doing what they considered to be their jobs.”

Oklahoma City Fire Battalion Chief Brian Stanaland and member of Local 157 says the calls came in so quickly that the response – swift as it was – threatened to become disjointed and chaotic.

But Oklahoma City fire fighters were prepared both in training and with equipment to respond with swiftness and clarity of purpose.

Phil Sipe, president of Local 157, says, "Our fire fighters responded to hundreds of rescue calls throughout the incident and performed with the kind of skill and professionalism that the citizens here in Oklahoma City have come to expect even in extreme circumstances."

Local 157 member Mark Edwards works Oklahoma City’s Water Rescue Unit with several other fire fighters on a dive team, where most of their calls involve recovery and not rescue.

The morning of June 14 was different. Edwards and his fellow fire fighters rescued 16 citizens to dry land and safety, soaking wet and dirty, but with no major injuries.

In one dramatic incident, captured on video by helicopter television crews, Edwards and two other fire fighters -- Patrick Chancellor and Joshua Pearcy – rescued a 17-year-old girl who had been stranded in a tree that was partially submerged under more than 8 feet of raging water.

Raquel Dawson had been walking to work through the pouring rain when she stopped to help a woman trying to get away from her car that was partially submerged in water. That was when the swift water pulled her away. Moments later, Dawson found herself stranded, grabbing at branches to keep from floating away.

An airboat with two fire fighters attempted to rescue Dawson, but the fast-moving water quickly overwhelmed the boat and it sunk fully submerged under water. Dawson now had company in her tree – two fire fighters and the airboat driver.

Local 157 member Joe Smith was one of the fire fighters in the airboat when it sank. “This is the first time I’ve encountered anything close to this. It didn't feel very good. I like to be in control of the action,” he says.

“We were just elated to be able to rescue people,” says Edwards. “You’re talking about a group of guys that are used to pulling bodies out of the water. This was a real shot in the arm for us.”

Just as the calls ebbed and the rigs began pulling back into the stations, one of Oklahoma City’s tallest buildings caught fire. Around 5:30 p.m. fire fighters responded to a large fire on two floors of a 36-story downtown building.

That fire was unrelated to the torrential rains and was just one of several fires called in that day, all while fire fighters were also responding to flood rescue calls.