Boise's dive team 'always ready to go'

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Boise, ID - Calls for rescues are on the rise, especially in the summer when boaters, floaters and swimmers hit the water.

WHO PAYS FOR THE DIVE TEAM'S WORK?

The dive team is funded through the Boise Fire Department's budget, so the team is funded by Boise taxpayers. The team does receive some state and federal grants, Assistant Fire Chief Dave Hanneman said.

Hanneman said the team has never sought payment from anyone rescued in Ada County "because we look at them as being our citizens." But the department has sought restitution from Boise County. "It's been difficult because they haven't been able to pay," he said.

The call to Ada County Dispatch Thursday afternoon sounded desperate: A raft carrying six people flipped near a dam on the Boise River.

A water rescue alert went out, and the Boise Fire Department dive team was alerted. Fortunately, the rafters got out OK, and divers didn't have to go in.

Calls for the dive team, which does water and ice rescues year-round, jump this time of year when floaters, boaters and swimmers hit the Boise River, Lucky Peak Reservoir and area lakes and ponds. Ninety percent of the team's calls come during the summer float season.

A five-year look at annual figures shows an upward trend in calls for help, with a peak of 35 calls in 2006, according to Boise Fire Department data. That was more than double the 17 calls in 2004.

Last year, the team was called to help with the dramatic rescue of Boise River floater Sari Starr, whose head was pinned underwater when she hit a downed tree and flipped out of her raft. Paramedics revived Starr, who was under water for at least 10 minutes.

"Our dive team is always ready to go because every minute counts," Assistant Fire Chief Dave Hanneman said.

The team has 30 members. At least five are on duty at all times.

Dive team boats and other equipment are based at Fire Station 1, which is on Reserve Street less than a mile from the river. They can put in at the Broadway bridge or at Baybrook Court off ParkCenter Boulevard within a couple of minutes.

The team's efforts are focused in Ada County. They dispatch only to places they can reach within an hour of when the victim entered the water.

About 70 percent of the team's 125 calls for help over the past five years have been for swift-water rescues in rivers or canals, Hanneman said.

"We've seen a 118 percent increase in swift-water rescue calls over five years," he said, noting they average about 17 a year.

More than a third of the dive team's calls turn out not to require rescue efforts.

In May, for example, the team was called to the Boise River after a woman's scream for help. It turned out later that the woman screamed because she dropped her cell phone in the river.

One night in June, the team was called at about 11 p.m. to aid a group of about 10 Boise River floaters who had become separated.

"It took close to an hour to get everyone together," Hanneman said.

He encourages groups of floaters to plan where they will meet if they get separated.

This week, a woman who was trapped in a diversion dam on the river called for help on her cell phone. She eventually freed herself, said Boise Fire Capt. Aaron Hummel.

Sometimes the dive team is called to recover bodies. A newly acquired sonar unit mounted on one of the team's pontoon boats will aid those efforts.

"It helps us look at the bottom of the water," Hanneman said. "If someone has drowned, it helps us see them."

Body recovery can be dangerous, especially in murky waters. In the early 1970s, he dive team lost one of its own firefighters, Marty Samuelson, during a body recovery in Payette Lake, Hanneman said. Samuelson became disoriented in the weeds and drowned.

"These are dangerous situations to put our folks in," Hanneman said.

The team recently acquired a second personal watercraft, which maneuvers better on the river than the pontoon boats and can run in shallower water.

"It used to be that we didn't have Jet Skis, but now that's our primary tool," Hummel said.

The Boise Fire Department has 260 firefighters. They must compete to win a spot on the dive team, which was created in 1972.

Applicants who pass written and rigorous swimming tests go through a five- to six-week training academy to become certified by the International Association of Dive Rescue Specialists. Members must receive at least eight hours of training each month.

"We have a lot of guys who were (previously) lifeguards and scuba-certified," said Hummel, a Boise firefighter for 13 years who joined the team two years ago.

"I was just always impressed with our dive team. I felt like the guys were sharp."

Katy Moeller: 377-6413
http://www.idahostatesman.com/102/story/434077.html

304.663.1118

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