A significant number of county residents live near a creek or other waterway that overflows its banks every so often and becomes a threat to their safety.

Some of them are elderly and unable to escape rising waters. Some are pets, confused by the murky liquid surrounding their normally peaceful homes.

Others drive rain-swollen roads and become stuck in their vehicles with the muddy water pouring inside.

Last week, when the Connoquenessing, Thorn and other creeks breached their banks and threatened homes in Renfrew, Harmony, Zelienople and other neighborhoods, a group of selfless first responders stood at the ready to take whatever steps were necessary to keep residents safe.

The Butler County Water Rescue Team 300 deployed their equipment and vast knowledge of swiftwater rescue on numerous occasions to assist those trapped in their houses or vehicles as the flooding rains continued to plague the county.

An article on Page 1 of Sunday’s Butler Eagle included a photo of an elderly couple and their German shepherd being ferried from their flooded home to solid ground by the brave men of Team 300.

The photo stirs the heart of county residents who are proud to be served by this special team of firefighters, police officers and emergency medical personnel.

An accompanying article noted the team on Friday morning, April 12, assisted a man whose pickup truck was swept from Hartmann Road in Jackson Township by the surging waters of the Connoquenessing Creek.

Team 300 members also were crucial in assisting residents of Willow Road, also in Jackson Township, as their homes were all but consumed by rising water. Five people and five pets were rescued by the team’s members.

Many kudos to the brave men and women of Team 300, who are normally called out only in the most dire atmospheric circumstances and answer that call without hesitation or thought of danger to themselves.

Team 300 is just another reason to be proud to call Butler County home.

— RJ