Rescuers Placed on Leave After Firetruck Gets Stuck in Creek

Two Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service staff have been placed on routine leave after a 100-foot aerial platform truck got stuck in high water during a water rescue in Clarksburg earlier this month.

Montgomery County Fire and Rescue spokesman Scott Graham did not name the workers but said in a news release Friday that the driver and an “officer” were placed on paid leave.

On June 10, MCFRS got a call at around 6:30 p.m. for people trapped in a car in flood waters on W. Old Baltimore Road, near Ten Mile Creek.

But when rescuers arrived, the people had escaped, according to an MCFRS news release.

There was an attempt by rescuers to drive the firetruck onward, but it got stuck and had to be abandoned due to the threat of rapidly rising water. The truck was later towed from the water, to be returned for inspection and repairs, according to MCFRS. 

Graham told The Gazette that that sort of truck costs around $1.5 million.

He told The Gazette it was not uncommon for trucks to sustain a certain amount of damage but said he had never seen “something to this magnitude.”

Graham declined to say what sort of disciplinary actions the employees could face.