VIDEO: As flood waters swept through Cocke County and its surrounding areas, first responders worked to rescue those in need of help.
At the Parrottsville Fire Department, they were working to make it to a home when flood waters became so high that they caused their truck to stop working.
“We heard trees breaking behind us, we didn’t know what was going on. We heard trees break and then the water just started rising," said firefighter Henry Riegger.
Riegger said that he and the other firefighters on board of the brush truck had to swim out of the vehicle and get rescued by another department as water started to get inside. “I’ve never seen water move that fast, never. To pick up a truck that heavy and move it away and have a hard time even getting a military vehicle out of that water was pretty surreal," said Riegger.