Chesapeake Beach, MD – On January 30, 2020, at approximately 9:13 a.m., units from Companies 1, 2, 5, 6, 10 and the Calvert County Sheriff’s Office were alerted to Brownies Beach in Chesapeake Beach, MD for a report of a cliff collapse with possible subjects trapped.
Units arrived on scene at Brownies Beach and immediately started a search. Squad 1 searched in the woods from Brownies Beach to Randle Cliff. Zodiac 1 searched the shoreline. Calvert County Sheriff’s Office deployed their drone to provide a broad area view of the incident. Maryland State Police Helicopter Trooper 7 also responded to assist in the search.
After 40 minutes of searching, the missing subject was located at 9:58 a.m., a quarter mile from the cliff collapse site still searching for fossils and shark teeth uninjured. Units from the incident returned to service shortly after. Approximately 30 Fire/EMS personnel operated on the scene.
The North Beach VFD and its response partners would like to remind fossil searchers, hikers and beach walkers the cliffs areas are very inviting, but extremely dangerous. The land mass making up the cliffs is very unstable and subject to collapse without warning. We are all thankful the incident turned out with a happy outcome.