Firefighters put water safety first
JUDD WILSON/Press Coeur d’Alene Fire Department firefighter Andy Goodsell practices his water rescue skills on a dummy at Lake Coeur d’Alene on Tuesday.
JUDD WILSON/Press Craig Etherton instructs Coeur d’Alene Fire Department firefighters on water rescue techniques at Independence Point on Tuesday. Training will continue today and Friday.
COEUR d’ALENE — Work as a firefighter doesn’t always mean getting hot. On a steamy Tuesday at the beach, members of the Coeur d’Alene Fire Department cooled off in Lake Coeur d’Alene to broaden their lifesaving skill set.
The local first responders trained in two-hour increments on Tuesday, and will do so again today and Friday, said fire inspector Craig Etherton, who is leading the course. Splitting up the training allows for appropriate numbers of firefighters to be available for emergency calls while also facilitating the training, he explained.
The department worked on water rescues in shallow water. On Tuesday firefighters learned how to search a beach area for someone who is reported lost or missing. “We’re getting better prepared to serve the citizens along all the miles of shoreline in the city,” Etherton said.
The department’s approximately 60 firefighters are also learning how to handle submerged boaters, courtesy of the department’s fire boat.
Lastly, the department purchased a small rubber boat several years ago with an Idaho Bureau of Homeland Security grant, and has been trying to determine how best to put it to use, said Etherton. Some members have trained with it for the past few years, but this year everyone is getting trained on it so “depending on the call anyone can take it out and use it,” he said.
Etherton reminded the public that they will see simulated searches and recoveries near Independence Point from 9-11 a.m. and 1-3 p.m. today and Friday. “This is training only. Please do not interfere with the training evolutions,” he requested.