Natural Disaster

Heroism Amid Horror in the Human Response to California's Worst Wildfire

The 2018 Camp Fire became the costliest wildfire in California history with a total of 85 civilian deaths and an estimated $16.5 billion in damage. The public safety response to the rapidly unfolding disaster was—in totality— valiant and brave and seemingly superhuman even if at times wholly improvised.

An officer with the Paradise Police Department stands beside a parked patrol vehicle and looks upon towering flames of wildfire.

Cops Provided a Way to Learn Proper Wildfire Response

The Ready, Set, Go! materials point out the critical role law enforcement plays when an evacuation from a wildfire is needed. Information is provided both in a detailed, yet concise, video as well as a flyer, which IAFC suggests can be kept in patrol cars.

GA Police Department Fields Swiftwater Rescue Team

If the water rescue is something that the patrol officer cannot safely perform, Sgt. Andrew Rausch says the best action is to keep an eye on the victim and wait for a swiftwater team, whether fire or police, to arrive.

Officers from the Sandy Springs Police Department train in swiftwater rescue alongside firefighers in a course taught on the Chattahoochee River.

Former Cop Braves Hurricane Flood Waters to Rescue His Mom

After 45 minutes of swimming, walking, wading, and pushing through the water, Lauder made it to her house where he heard her screaming. When he got inside, he put his mom on a table and bundled her in dry sheets.

SC Law Enforcement Responds to Hurricane Ian

South Carolina Emergency Management Division reports Hurricane Ian made landfall just south of Georgetown as a Category 1 hurricane at 2:05 p.m. Friday.

Hurricane Ian made landfall Friday near Georgetown, SC.

FL Deputy’s BWC Captures Video of Swiftwater Rescue

One responding deputy had 200 feet of rope in his patrol vehicle. Combined with that, five deputies formed a human chain to pull the woman to safety in rushing water reported to be 10 feet deep.

Orange County Water Rescue

FL Agencies Assess Hurricane Damage, Respond to Flooding

“Obviously, we've been hit. We've been hit very hard,” says Sheriff Carmine Marceno, who surveyed the damage by helicopter. “I can tell you from the heart, there are no words that can describe what we got to see.”

Lee County Damage

As Autumn Arrives, Police Prepare for Rescuing Victims from Floodwaters

Earlier this month, dramatic body-camera footage was released showing officers in California pulling a woman and her two children from raging floodwaters that suddenly swept them from their vehicle. This event should serve as a clarion call for agencies to provide swift-water rescue to officers.

CA Officers Rescue Family from Flash Flood

According to initial reports, the woman and her two children called the police asking for help with an unrelated issue. After they called, heavy rains swept through the area, leading to flash flooding.

Dozen of Dallas Police Vehicles Damaged in Flooding

More than two dozen Dallas Police Department vehicles were damaged in what meteorologists have called a "thousand-year rain event" in late August.

Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport recorded 9.19 inches of rain on August 22, the second highest daily amount of rainfall on record. Twenty-eight police vehicles were damaged by floodwaters.

MI Trooper’s BWC Captures Rescue of Child from Water

“When you get it, wrap it around your body,” the trooper instructs the child. “I just don’t want you to let go, okay. Wrap it around you and hold on really, really tight.”

A Michigan state trooper prepares to throw a rescue device, with line attached, to a child trapped in the water at the base of a dam.

ID Officers Save Man Clinging to Tree in Boise River

Carter wanted to thank the officer and as he hugged him, he said, “I never in my life thought I’d hug a cop.”

Caldwell Police Department officers are shown following their rescue of a man stranded in the Boise River and found clinging to a downed tree.

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