(FORT BEND COUNTY) - Through a collaboration with the Northeast Fort Bend County Fire Department, several Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office divers were selected to form the first-ever regional Fort Bend County Dive and Water Rescue Team.
The Sheriff’s Office is joining forces with the NEFBCFD and other local agencies including the Fort Bend County Fire Marshal’s Office. The goal of the partnership is to provide extra support, additional resources and a faster response time during emergencies with equipment that is well-maintained and quickly deployable.
The Sheriff’s Office airboat will be stored and maintained at the NEFBCFD where it will be protected from environmental hazards.
Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office will remain the owner of the airboat, which will a shared vessel in the partnership to better deploy across the county.
Fort Bend County Sheriff Eric Fagan and NEFBCFD Fire Chief Travis Baxter call the collaboration a win-win for the communities in which they serve.
“We deeply appreciate the efforts of Chief Baxter and his team as we pool our public safety resources, which include the courageous members of our dive team,” said Fagan. “The use of our airboat by the Fire Department will enable the vessel to be quickly deployed where needed and will reach anywhere in Fort Bend County during a crisis or emergency.”
The county-wide dive and water rescue team and the FBCSO airboat will greatly enhance the NEFBCFD’s rescue response capabilities, according to Chief Baxter.
“This new addition to our rescue fleet will allow our team to access difficult non-public areas such as rivers, man-made ponds and lakes, and low water crossings that may flood due to excessive rainwater or fast-rising water,” said Baxter.
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