By RICK MILLER
Olean Star
OLEAN — Members of the Olean Fire Department’s Swift Water Team were dispatched with a rescue boat Friday to Westfield, Pa., and Knoxville, Pa, where flooding left some residents stranded in their homes and vehicles.
Capt. Bryan Swift, who has been a firefighter since 2016, and Firefighter Colin Kloc are co-leaders of the fire department’s Swift Water Team. The Olean team which was deployed along with teams from four others across Cattaraugus County.
Teams from Westons Mills and Allegany, as well as Salamanca and Gowanda responded to calls Friday for swift water rescue teams from New York and Pennsylvania counties inundated by heavy rains from Tropical Storm Debbie.
The call to city firefighters for swift water rescue teams and equipment came shortly after noon, said Kloc, a five-year member of the department with a total of seven years as a water technician. He and two other members of the crew were on duty, but it was Swift’s day off.
“We were able to get our gear and the boat ready while Capt. Swift was enroute to the firehall,” Klock said. “We left about 12:30. Initially, we headed to Westfield., Pa., followed by Salamanca and Gowanda, who were more than an hour behind us.”
Firefighters Cody Anderson and Tim Hite rounded out the four-man crew. One crew member stays on shore to help with communications. This time Hite stayed on shore with a radio.
There are 15 members of the Swift Water Team, said Kloc. “All of them are good swimmers.”
Floodwater turned their truck and trailer around and they detoured to Westfield, arriving about 3:15 p.m.
Swift said the crew met with command in Westfield, but communications was a little difficult because they were not on the same frequency. A local firefighter traveled with the Olean crew to relay local communications.
“We worked our way east going house to house,” Kloc said. The crew was then asked to go to nearby Knoxville, Pa., where there was heavy flooding and multiple people stranded in their homes and in vehicles.
”We were the first boat to make it to them (Knoxville),” Kloc said. It is located along Troups Creek which empties into near the Cowanesque River.
Swift said most people they encountered chose to stay at their flooded home or vehicle until the water subsided. “A number of people wanted to stay,“ Swift said. “We removed two or three people and checked on about 30 others.”
The boat can carry up to five people depending on the current, Kloc said. “It (current) was pretty heavy. There were narrow valleys and no place for all the water to go.
Kloc said the water level at Knoxville dropped 8-10 feet in the last two hours they were there. “It went from a lot of water to normal (level) in a couple of hours.”
Kloc said, “The instruction was pretty intense. Vehicles were wrapped around trees.” Floodwaters damaged hundreds of buildings, some of which were washed from their foundations and many roadways are damaged.
The Olean Fire Department’s swift water rescue program is 10-years-old. They have two boats, one of which is motorized.
“We met up with Westons Mills and Allegany” which had originally been sent to Coudersport, Pa., Koloc said. All three teams ended up in the same area clearing homes.
The local swift water team arrived back in Olean about 10:30 p.m. Friday.
Team members train in swift water tactics at a dedicated facility in Oriskany, Swift said and area bodies of water including the Rushford Lake outlet when the water level is brought down in the fall.
Earlier this summer, the Olean Swift Water Team joined with Westons Mills in providing safety on the water for those participating in Float the Allegheny from Portville to Franchot Park in Olean.
