Firefighters fully-equipped for ice-rescues

MOSES LAKE - Members of the Moses Lake Fire Department took to the icy waters Friday during a water rescue training at Blue Heron Park.

The department rarely has to respond to a call for a ice rescue, but Fire Chief Tom Taylor said the department is fully-equipped to handle a rescue.

"We've come a long way in the last six, seven years to where we feel we're very capable of performing a rescue," Taylor said.

In 2006, the department received a call that a man fell through the ice while attempting to rescue his dog that fell through the ice at Cascade Valley. At the time, Grant County Fire District No. 5 was not equipped to handle an ice-rescue, and the Moses Lake department responded. The rescuers reached the man in about 30 minutes, according to Taylor, but not in time. The man died shortly after.

"We caught a lot of grief from that, from the family, from the public, why weren't we prepared," Taylor said.

The Moses Lake Fire Department and Grant 5 work together during an ice-rescue call. Taylor said four firefighters on each shift are fully trained for an ice or water rescue.

Last week, a person ice skating in the area fell through a thin layer of ice, but was able to get back on the ice on his own and off the lake. "The ice conditions right now are terrible," Taylor said. "If anything comes out of this, the message we want to get across is stay off the ice."

During the training, firefighters were dressed in a full-body ice-rescue suit, completely waterproof and fully insulated. The department is equipped with an inflatable canoe-like raft as well as a rescue sled that uses a rope-pulley system to pull victims to shore.

"A real rescue is very fast-paced," Taylor said. "The guys are suiting up when they're coming off the truck. They can be suited up in those ice-rescue suits and be ready to go in a matter of minutes."

Ice conditions on the water are unpredictable, especially in late fall and early spring, Taylor said.

"Good ice has to be tested in a lot of different places," Taylor said. "The training gives them an idea of what the ice conditions are like at the time."

There are no city ordinances in place to keep people off the ice, and ice fishers are routinely out on the water.

"You can't tell how good the ice is just walking across the surface," Taylor said. "We know it's just a matter of time that we're going to have someone fall through."