Chapel Hill firefighters assist in Hurricane Matthew relief

Before and after Hurricane Matthew hit North Carolina, Chapel Hill firefighters were dispatched to assist with relief efforts.

On Oct. 6, before the hurricane hit, the Urban Search and Rescue Task Force-8’s swift water assets were deployed to New Bern. A second USAR swift water rescue team was deployed on Oct. 9 to help with post-hurricane relief in Rocky Mount. Both teams had firefighters from Chapel Hill’s Fire Department.

The first team was co-captained by Chapel Hill Interim Battalion Chief Paul Moss of the Chapel Hill Fire Department and Jeff Roberts, Durham Fire Department Battalion Chief. They were deployed to New Bern initially, but left for Pamlico County the following day.

“We were there to assist them and take care of any water rescue needs that may arise,” Moss said. “With the storm changing course, we only had one event out there; a fire crew in one of the neighboring towns ran off the road, so we sent a boat team out to get them and help them out of the water, get them back to safety.”

After assisting in Pamlico County, they were sent to a community north of Greenville, Moss said. There the team checked houses.

Firefighter Ben Batley, a member of the USAR Task Force-8 team, said they evacuated residents when water began to rise.

“We also found quite a few dogs left behind that were in high-water situations,” he said.

The second USAR team was led by Chapel Hill Fire Capt. Bill Blankenship and contained five firefighters — three from Chapel Hill and two from Durham, Blankenship said. The team was deployed to Rocky Mount after helping in Chapel Hill and Raleigh.

“When we have significant rains in a short amount of time, the creeks come out of their banks and flood some structures around there,” Blankenship said. “So we had to go to some of those on Saturday and evacuate people who hadn’t already left.”

When they arrived in Rocky Mount, the team was able to provide some relief for those already working to help the city, Blankenship said. Afterward, they were sent to Smithfield where the team checked about 30 homes in a flooded area that was only accessible by boat.

The second USAR team was sent to multiple areas. Originally deployed in Rocky Mount, the team was also sent to Smithfield, Kinston and Goldsboro, Blankenship said.

Matt Sullivan, the Chapel Hill interim fire chief, said the USAR team was created in the early 2000s and is comprised of members from the Raleigh Fire Department, Chapel Hill Fire Department and Durham Fire Department.

“We combined our assets and did some joint training together to provide response to a number of different incidents like the swift water rescue that went on last week, but also structural collapse or other significant responses that would require more than just our assets,” he said.

The firefighters on the USAR team attended a two-week structural collapse school, along with training in trench rescue, high angle rescue and water rescue, Blankenship said.

“We’re multifaceted,” Blankenship said. “We’re doing many different things today than just firefighting — we’re doing firefighting, we’re doing EMS, we’re doing all the specialty rescue disciplines and the like.”

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