PHOTOS: Chesterfield firefighters in action in southwest Virginia during Helene

CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — Firefighters with Chesterfield County Fire & EMS were on the ground in southwestern Virginia on Friday, lending locals a hand as Helene brought heavy rain and flooding to the region .

On Friday, Sept. 27, much of Virginia saw storms and poor weather conditions — but the western portion of the state was hit especially hard, from tornados to significant flooding. As of the time of reporting, at least two people in western Virginia were injured by storms and there are two confirmed deaths.

A woman in Craig County was killed when a barn and tree were knocked down by strong winds. No additional details are known on the second death, but the Virginia Department of Health said it was someone in western Virginia .

Two specialized teams staffed by Chesterfield firefighters were deployed on Thursday, Sept. 26 to southwestern Virginia so they could be on the ground when this severe weather hit.

By Friday night, one such team — the Virginia Task Force 8 Urban Search & Rescue (VA-TF8), which was deployed to Wytheville — had aided with 7 evacuations and 4 rescues in flooded areas. This included the rescue of 10 adults, one child, five dogs and a cat.

Below are several photos of this 19-person team in action.

According to fire officials, this team is staffed by members of the county’s Scuba Rescue and Technical Rescue teams, a safety officer and a battalion chief.

Not pictured above but still staffed by Chesterfield firefighters, the Virginia Helicopter Aquatic Rescue Team (VAHART) was deployed to Roanoke on Thursday. They operate Blackhawk helicopters and can assist with rescues on difficult terrain.

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