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NEWS ADVISORY

Montgomery County Fire and Rescue ServiceAn Internationally Accredited Public Safety Agency

Richard Bowers, Fire Chief

Executive Office Building, 101 Monroe Street, 12th

Floor, Rockville,Maryland

Assistant Chief Scott Graham, Public Information OfficerPhone: 240-876-1260 Media line 240-777-2442 - @MCFirePIO

IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 22, 2012

Press Conference: Potomac River Safety

Thursday, May 24, 2012

10:00 a.m.Great Falls Park, Overlook #39200 Old Dominion Drive, Great Falls/McLean, Virginia

Great Falls - - - In an effort to focus attention on the dangers of the Potomac River Gorge, officialsfrom federal, state, county and local agencies and private organizations will join forces to renewtheir efforts at focusing public attention on the serious and deadly dangers of the 14-mile stretch ofthe Potomac River from Great Falls to the Key Bridge.

Representatives from the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service, the National Park Service(NPS), the United States Park Police (USPP), Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department, District

of Columbia Metropolitan Police Harbor Patrol, which comprise the Potomac River Safety TaskForce, are calling for a renewed effort to raise the visiting publics awareness of the inherent dangersin the Potomac River Gorge and to address the increase in hiking incidents along the trails of theC&O Canal.

Featured at the press event will be a first-person account of a near tragic situation just south of GreatFalls told by a wife whose husband and teenage neighbor nearly lost their lives while canoeing justsouth of Great Falls in May 2011. This first-person account will tell the story of how this potentialtragedy was averted and what visitors to the area need to know.

Reporters and news photographers will be provided a photo opportunity with Montgomery andFairfax County Fire & Rescue swift water rescue boats providing access onto the river to show the

hazards of the Potomac River Gorge and of the Billy Goat Trail, part of the C&O Canal NationalHistorical Park.

Directions: Take I-495/Beltway Exit #44 to Virginia Route 193 Westbound (Georgetown Pike)approximately 4.5 miles west of the Beltway and turn right at the intersection of Georgetown Pike andOld Dominion Drive. Follow Old Dominion Drive into Great Falls Park. There is free parking in theparking lot. News organizations will need to walk approximately one-half mile from the parking lot toOverlook #3.

NOTE: News photographers and reporters are strongly advised to wear appropriate footwear, rain gear andclothing for wet and muddy conditions.

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