Va. Firefighter Saves Deputies Stranded During Storm

ISLE OF WIGHT, Va. -- Two Isle of Wight Sheriff's deputies responding to a medical call during Tuesday's storms ended up getting rescued after their police cruiser was swept off Tan Road by three feet of rising water.

The deputies were rescued around 9 p.m. by a Carrollton firefighter whose personal vehicle was able to get through the rushing water, said Isle of Wight Sheriff spokeswoman Kristin Wilda. The deputies were on their way to a house on Lankford Lane.

Just minutes earlier, a engine from the Chuckatuck Volunteer Fire Department, responding to the same call, went into a ditch because of high water, Wilda said.

Smithfield medics tended to the original medical call, Wilda said. No deputies or firefighters were injured in the incident.

Then, around 1 a.m. Wednesday, the Smithfield Volunteer Fire Department rescued one adult and three children from a car trapped in rising water on Scotts Factory Road, Wilda said. After getting the people out of the car, firefighters moved the vehicle off the road.

Several county roads were impassable Wednesday morning after the overnight thunderstorms, including Burdette Road at Stringwood Lane; River Run at Walters Highway; Poor House Road at Bob White Road; Scotts Factory Road at Great Springs Road; Racetrack Road at Route 620; and the bridge on Collose Road near Darden's Mill, said Wilda.

Copyright 2012 - Daily Press (Newport News, Va.)

McClatchy-Tribune News Service