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Monday, 02 February 2009 |
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 Staff photo/Angela Weaver
Douglas Johnson, orange, and Kevin Heilers, practice an ice rescue as part of a training exercise Saturday morning.
By ANGELA WEAVER
Staff Writer
ST. MARYS — Three township fire departments took time out of their Saturday morning to prepare themselves for the worst-case scenario on Grand Lake St. Marys in the winter season — an ice rescue.
Approximately 12 firefighters representing St. Marys, Celina and Montezuma, including emergency medical technicians and fire crews, trekked out on the East Bank of Grand Lake St. Marys to practice ice rescue scenarios.
“We’re simulating somebody going through the ice,” St. Marys Fire Capt. Wayne Sweigart said. “We’re making sure we can all participate in a group effort and work as a team. Last weekend we did short scenarios.”
Sweigart estimated the firefighters went out 600 feet on the lake on Saturday.
“We want to make sure we have enough resources and use enough resources,” he said.
The firefighters were armed with multiple safety devices. The items included three sleds, including an ice sled that slides on the ice and floats on water, and three safety slings, which are looped around the person in the water and how the person is retracted.
Sweigart said the firefighters had approximately 2,500 feet of rope with them.
“We have lots of rope,” he said.
The firefighters practiced longer scenarios Saturday morning, bringing the sleds and rope out on the ice, as well as a shorter scenario in a gap in the water at the East Bank Marina.
A few of the firefighters, assisted by representatives from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, entered the water and simulated a rescue.
Laura Walker with the Montezuma Fire Department was one of the firefighters out on the lake on Saturday.
“We try to think of the worst-case scenario and how we are going to solve it,” she said.
The safety session was the second this season but was the first mutual aid session. Sweigart said the number of sessions usually depends on the season.
“It’s just to make sure everybody stays safe,” Sweigart said of why the fire departments hold the sessions. “There’s power in numbers.”
Walker had a reminder for those considering venturing out on the lake in the winter.
“No ice is safe ice,” she said. |
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Last Updated ( Friday, 06 February 2009 )
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