09/13/2026
Significant Flooding Event
South Strabane Township experienced a significant weather event today, resulting in flooded basements, flooded roadways, entrapped vehicle occupants in storm water, a landslide, fire alarms, and fires.
As the storm moved in, a dozen members were wrapping up our department burn, which allowed crews to begin responses to multiple locations, almost immediately.
While crews were handling multiple incidents, including people being trapped in vehicles after entering flooded roadways, our crews were notified that a significant event occurred at our Oak Spring Rd location. The main stormwater pipe that channels water from adjacent properties under our parking lot, and into the creek travelling parallel to Oak Spring Rd had collapsed. Within minutes, the stream engulfed our parking lot, requiring the evacuation of nearly 80 citizens. Thankfully, no one was hurt, however, our fire station was flooded and the parking lot collapsed.
In 2025, our department applied for an LSA Grant through the Washington County Redevelopment Authority, requesting financial assistance with repairing this same pipe system after similar damage occurred during a significant weather event. In that instance, hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage occurred and community functions at the hall were forced to stop. Repairs were quoted at that time, and it was determined that the department could not afford these remediations on their own. The social hall was remediated and repaired, and the department searched for funding to repair the parking lot.
The Washington County Redevelopment Authority awarded the department funds, which were due for disbursement in the fall of 2026. Due to the grant requirements, the department had to wait for the distribution of funds before repairs could begin.
During today's incident, department leadership was able to make contact with Bioni Industries, who responded immediately. Due to their generous donation of time and equipment, the immediate collapse hazard was stabilized, and further damage appears to have slowed. This huge act of kindness allowed us to continue moving forward, while we negotiate this challenge.
We would additionally like to thank:
-Members of Washington County's Department of Public Safety who responded to the station, assisted in the deployment of sandbags, and starting our notifications.
-Canton Township Fire Department for responding to our station, assisting in answering calls for service, and remaining onsite while clean up efforts were completed.
-Ambulance & Chair for responding to the station and ensuring our citizens and crews were safe.
-South Strabane Public Works employees for responding from home during the storm, to deploy barricades, vehicles, sandbags, and machinery.
To our community, please know that emergency operations continue to be delivered by our members. It is imperative to know that if roadways are flooded, do not enter them. Call 911 immediately, if you are in need of assistance, and obey all emergency signs/responders.
Township elected officials visited the station to speak with the first responders, thank them for their actions, and began steps to make an Emergency Disaster Declaration. Please monitor this page for additional information regarding damage assessment requests.
This problem will undoubtably affect our departments ability to host the weekly bingo, which will directly impact our ability to fund fire department operations. We kindly ask all of our residents and stakeholders to reach out to their elected officials and ask them to assist us.
Questions regarding this matter can be directed to Interim Chief Brown @ [email protected].
We thank the community for their continued support and we look forward to continuing to serve you.
