TRI-LAKES AREA — In 2011, 15 people died in boating accidents in the state, and 30 people were injured, according to the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.
On Saturday, more than 300 volunteer and professional firefighters from around the state, along with three state agencies and the U.S. Coast Guard, will meet on DeGray Lake on Saturday for the ninth annual Arkansas Fire Boat School.
The Forestry Commission started the school in 2004.
“We wanted to make sure people who received the boats were safe and trained in all areas of fire-boat use,” said Robert Summerville, the rural-fire-protection-program coordinator for the Forestry Commission, at last year’s drill near Bismarck.
City and county fire departments, many made up of volunteers, carry much of the responsibility for providing aid to boaters and otherswho might get in trouble on the lakes. These volunteers have been able to get boats and equipment for search-and-rescue operations based on their firefighting duties, said Adriane Harrell of the Arkansas Forestry Commission.
The forestry agency has helped fire departments in rural area of the state obtain fire boats. Summerville said the department has gotten boats ranging from 16 feet long to 47 feet, using federal grants and the Federal Excess Property in Areas Program.
“Some of the boats were Navy river-patrol boats,” Summerville said last year. “Some are not much different than fishing boats or small houseboats, but it is the equipmentthat makes the difference.”
These boats have become the first responders on many of the state’s lakes, including Lake Hamilton, Lake Ouachita and DeGray Lake in the Tri-Lakes region.
Along with holding drills on the lake, some teams runexercises on the Caddo River below the DeGray Dam.
“River operations are much different than working on a lake,” said Bill Barnes, chairman of the Arkansas Fire Boat Committee. “It is a different environment. The water is swifter and shallower, and space is limited for maneuvering.”
One drill scenario will bring small and large boats together on a new shared emergency.
“We hope here to create a flooded scenario similar to those experienced all over the state during the flooding in spring of last year,” Harrell said in an email. “There will be victims to evacuate, open fires to extinguish, LP gas leaks, and possible search and rescue challenges. The U.S. Coast Guard will be working with crews in this scenario to help lift victims and transport as needed.”
Staff writer Wayne Bryan can be reached at (501) 244-4460 or wbryan@arkansasonline.com.
Tri-Lakes, Pages 56 on 05/31/2012