WBZ reporter Chris McKinnon and a station photographer had to be rescued while covering the storm that hit the Boston area yesterday.
The Boston Herald reports, at around 11:00 a.m., the pair had to call into the Scituate town hall for help after water surrounded their truck.
“They didn’t want a bad situation to become worse or [to become] a danger to rescue personnel,” Lorraine Devin, the assistant to the selectmen and town administrator of Scituate, Mass. told The Herald. “They needed some help to get out of there.”
Devin instructed them to call 911, but they didn’t feel “comfortable” making the call, so Devin dialed for help.
The reporter and photographer originally said they were stuck out at Lighthouse Point, but when firefighters arrived, there was no sign of them. The pair called Devin back, apologized and said they were in fact on Oceanside Drive.
Another firefighter crew was dispatched. The WBZ team abandoned their news truck and rescuers brought them to safety.
“They had to be evacuated,” said Scituate fire Capt. Mark Donovan. “They weren’t in any danger.”
CBS Boston spokeswoman Ro Dooley Webster said power lines and water had blocked their exit route. “Because of the uncertain conditions, they wanted to be safe,” Dooley Webster said.
The news truck remained behind but was fine.
Here’s some video of Scituate during the storm from The Herald.