Photo courtesy of NewsChannel9 – Eddie Phillips, left center, Chief of Tri-State Mutual aid, speaks with a reporter as ERFD Chief Mike Williams and Firefighter Chris Peters look on.

A swift water rescue team comprised of Bradley County Fire Rescue, East Ridge Fire Rescue, and Dallas Bay Fire Rescue personnel deployed to Texas Wednesday to assist with on-going water rescue missions due to Hurricane Harvey, said Eddie Phillips, Chief of Mutual Aid for Hamilton County Emergency Management.

According to a press release, the team is part of a Tennessee Fire Chiefs Statewide Mutual Aid System and Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) deployment to Texas. Trained personnel and equipment from 20-plus different agencies, including the ones from our local area, have been combined to form seven swift water rescue teams. The teams have formed  two swift water task forces that have deployed to College Station, Texas to a staging area.

The swift water teams are on an eight-day deployment to Texas and have to be self sufficient for the first three days taking food, water, and extra supplies. The team members are highly trained to perform both swift water and still flood water rescues of humans and animals and to provide basic life support (BLS) medical care to victims, the press release states.

All team members reported to TEMA headquarters in Nashville today where they were given briefings and immunizations due to the extremely hazardous water and conditions they are going to be operating in. They then deployed  together to Texas as two task forces.

The local team is comprised of Bradley County as the lead agency using their rescue boats and personnel and East Ridge and Dallas Bay providing additional trained personnel.

Officials with East Ridge Fire Department said the two men from ERPD deployed are Chief Mike Williams and Firefighter Chris Peters.