Grant funds dive gear, training for Texas fire department

By Wayne Stewart
The Palestine Herald-Press

PALESTINE, Texas — A new level of ability is being added to the Palestine Fire Department with a grant from the East Texas Council of Governments (ETCOG).

The $34,061.55 grant allowed the Palestine Fire Department (PFD) to buy equipment and to train firefighters in advanced open water diving. The grant, according to Palestine Fire Department Capt. Kyle Betterton, allowed for almost $25,000 worth of equipment to be purchased and $9,700 in training.

"Eventually we will end up with 20 advanced open water divers," Betterton said.

The different phases of diver training include search and recovery, underwater navigation, deep diving, dry-suit diving, night diving and peak performance buoyancy.

Training is being done through the Athens SCUBA Park which is owned by Calvin and Shannon Wilcher, who also are instructors. They are also being instructed by Bill Cherry and Stuart Phillips and dive master Eric Williamson. Cherry, Betterton noted, trained the rescue crew who worked with the Twin Cities Bridge collapsed in Minnesota two years ago.

"Training is the most important part of this," Betterton said. "If you are not trained properly you can get yourself hurt or killed in a hurry."

With acceptance of the grant, the PFD dive team will be asked to respond to emergency situations in the 14 counties that make up ETCOG.

"Search and recovery of course includes people, but it also includes item retrieval like if a gun gets thrown in the water," Betterton explained. "Or, if a boat sinks and the insurance company wants to retrieve it, they will pay the city and we can bring it up for them."

The other aspect of the grant covered equipment, which according to Betterton is major upgrade compared to what the PFD used to have.

With the new equipment firefighters will be able to dive in all types of water in all types of weather conditions. The new mask will allow firefighters to communicate via radio signal underwater and with personnel on the surface.

"What we will be able to see and do with the new masks is remarkable," Betterton said.

Along with the new masks and wet and dry suits, divers will have new technical buoyancy compensators, which will allow them to work at a specific depth with all of the equipment they need attached to it. Betterton said his goal is to have 12 sets of recovery gear for PFD divers.

"We've moved from basically feeling our way around under water," Betterton noted, "to being able to do what they did when the Twin Cities Bridge collapsed."

Copyright 2009