RocketTheme Joomla Templates
     
Home arrow Swiftwater Rescue Headlines July 2008 arrow Swiftwater Rescue Training in Azle, Texas
Swiftwater Rescue Training in Azle, Texas PDF Print E-mail
Azle, TX - Four years ago, the Azle Fire Department had one person certified to make rescues in moving water or flood conditions. Now there are eight, or more than half of the department, who are certificed for the rescue speciality.

 

In 2004, the city was inundated with rain for a month, resulting in severe flooding at least once. And although the rescues of people whose car had stalled in high water were less dramatic than some, “we identified the need for more training and better equipment,” Fire Marshal Kenny Wilson said this week, after two more firefighters were certified as advanced swiftwater rescue specialists.

The training is conducted each spring by Parker County Search and Rescue, at locations on the Trinity River below the Eagle Mountain Lake and Lake Braidgeport dams.
In May, training was coducted at Eagle Mountain Lake.

 

On June 25-27, training was conducted near Lake Bridgeport, in a swift moving stream of water below that dam.


The rescuers re-train each year to maintain their certification, Wilson said.


In 2007, the Brazos River was flooded at several points late in June and early in July. Azle firefighters were among the Parker County SAR “alumni” who helped rescue residents of the area.


Most recently, Wilson and Azle firefighter/paramedic John Behm helped the Parker County Sheriff’s Office search for additional remains after a skull was found in a bend of the Brazos River.

Swiftwater rescue training is rigorous, and trainees can be injured, Wilson said.
“I guarantee you their backsides are bruised” he said of one exercise in which the 20 or so firefighters seemed to simply float down the river.


Thursday, July 03, 2008
Gail Gilmore
http://www.azle-news.com/news/get-news.asp?id=8738&catid=1&cpg=get-news.asp