On Tuesday, over 7 inches of rain kept Station 43 volunteers hopping with flooded basements and even a water rescue when a vehicle got trapped on Route 247 early in the afternoon. Various roads in Clinton Township remain impassable.  As the crew sat down for dinner, a 41 box drew the Tower Ladder and the wagon for a reported structure on Railroad Street. The fire was quickly extinguished, which Chief 41 holding Engine 41 returning the rest. 

Shortly after returning to service the Tower Ladder and the car responded to a report of a lost child on S. Smith Road in Clinton Township with Waymart EMS. The child was located prior to arrival of the Tower. Throughout the day, Station 43 maintained three crews at the station. 

Early start on Wednesday
Early this morning, the tower and Chief 43A responded to two 41 boxes but were quickly returned to service. We have started to take care of requests to handle flooded basements throughout  Clinton Township.

Crew sees massive devastation in Susquehanna County
While our own first due  saw extensive devastation in Clinton Township,  nothing would compare to the damage the engine crew would see when they were transferred to Susquehanna County to  fill in at Great Bend Fire Company. 

At about 14:00, Lackawanna County Communication, relaying for he crippled Wayne County Communications Center, requested support for the Great Bend area of Susquehanna County. Engine 43 was requested to report to Great Bend. An engine crew of 5 left for Susquehanna County at 16:00 hours. Lackawanna 59 Rescue was transferred to Station 43 to fill in. 
 

On arrival in Great Bend, the engine crew was assigned a pressing detail to get water and ice to the evacuation center at the the Blue Ridge High School. Remaining available to respond to other  emergencies, the engine crew with civilians and National Guard assisted in the transfer.

Following that assignment, Great Bend Command, assigned Engine 43 and Engine 281 ( Pleasant Mount) to commence a door to door search of the Washington Street area of  Great Bend. The purpose of the search was to check on the welfare of the occupants and to determine basement water levels. Shortly after responding to this job, Command recalled all companies back to the staging area for reassignment. 

Great Bend Command directed Engine 43, 281, Great Bend Rescue and EMS to respond to an apartment complex near the intersection of Routes 81 and 171 to check on the welfare of an individual who was believed to be trapped.
 

The engine crew, with the National Guard, and GBH EMS, boarded a military 6 x 6 truck venturing into nearly 7 foot deep water to try to access the structure.  With water near the structure in excess of 10 feet, the mission was aborted until additional resources were gathered.

While attempting to return to the shore the crew had some very tense moments when the  6 x 6 entered deep water, far in excess of recommended operating conditions. After a struggle, the crew was returned to dry ground.  Rescue 18, a boat from Susquehanna FD,  and the 36 Dive Team was requested to the scene. With adequate resources arriving within 40 minutes, the rescue operation restarted only to come up negative on the search. All companies cleared that incident at 23:15 hours, returning to the staging  area at Great Bend.
 

At 23:00 hours, the first wave of  Pennsylvania's USAR team, Task Force 1, began to arrive at the staging area. The remainder of the crew arrived early Wednesday morning. The day started early on Thursday.

At 04:30 hours, all personnel were roused for the 05:00 briefing from the operations staff from PA Task Force 1 regarding the day's objectives and a review of the medical plan. 

All crews were assigned and by 700 hours were deployed to search operations. 
Engine 43 was assigned to check area that experiences lesser flooding conditions, checking on the welfare of occupants. At 10:00 hours, Engine 43 returned to the staging area  and where rehabbed. 

As companies from Susquehanna County arrived on  scene, they were assigned to various pumping details. Engine 43 and Engine 2-1 (Chinchilla), Tanker 28 5 (Pleasant Mt. Emergency Services) remained staged for immediate response to any incident.

Throughout the day, USAR search groups, left and returned throughout the day. USAR team found many individual that were stranded or cut off by the high water. Those individuals were removed from harms way, taken to the refuge area.

At approximately 18:00 Engine 43, Tanker 28-5, Engine 2-1 and the USAR Task Force were releases. Engine 952 (Taylor) was transferred to Great Bend from Lackawanna County.

Going Home With a dirty rig, tired crew was glad to return home. With yet another downpour pending, Engine 43 arrive back in at quarters at about 20:00 hours.

Throughout the day, and the previous two day, Station 43 was staffed around the clock with multiple crews. A special thanks to all who made yet another sacrifice to insure all  the bases were covered. Our friends at Rescue 59 and Squad 22, Lackawanna County, filled while 43 Engine was on assignment.  Check  out the  photos.