NORFOLK, Va. — You've probably seen the video. Early Tuesday morning, a cargo ship coming out of port in Baltimore hit a bridge, causing the bridge to collapse.
With cargo ships constantly coming and going from the port in Norfolk, what would happen if something similar happened?
Norfolk Fire Rescue has a wide variety of resources available for water rescues.
They include multiple types of boats.
“We’ve got just a flat-bottom boat for some of those remote areas that Norfolk has where we’re not able to get a vessel that has a motor," Norfolk Fire Rescue Bat. Chief Glen Williams explained, gesturing to a boat on top of a truck at Fire Station one.
Firefighters also train with the resources often.
“The ones that are a part of the water rescue team go to Coast Guard search and rescue training each year," Williams explained.
Despite the training and resources, responding to an incident like Tuesday’s bridge collapse in Baltimore would not be easy and could take five to 10 minutes according to Williams.
WATCH LATEST UPDATE ON KEY BRIDGE COLLAPSE:
Something the city may have just barely avoided. The ship that hit the bridge in Baltimore was in port in Portsmouth March 22 according to a statement from the Port of Virginia.
The Port of Virginia® is truly saddened by this morning’s news regarding the collision of the mv. Dali and the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. Our thoughts are with all those families directly impacted by this tragic event.The mv. Dali called at Virginia International Gateway (VIG) terminal and departed March 22 for Baltimore as its next scheduled port of call. The vessel’s call at VIG and its departure from the Norfolk Harbor were without incident.Our operating team is already working with ocean carriers whose vessels were due to call Baltimore and offering the capability of our port to discharge cargoes as requested. The Port of Virginia has a significant amount of experience in handling surges of import and export cargo and is ready to provide whatever assistance we can to the team at the Port of Baltimore.
“They’re dealing with extremely cold water temperatures. They’ve got the danger of sending a diver in to look for victims with the bridge not secured in the water as it is. Unknown where the vehicles are. The tides, the winds," said Williams. "We would like to think we would be prepared, but for an event like that that’s pretty catastrophic. It’s going to test every resource we’ve got."
As of March 26, the fire department was in the process of creating a specialized dive team to help respond to incidents. The hope was that team would be ready to go in about a year.
