Volunteer firefighters undergo dive training
Volunteer firefighters undergo dive training
| CAPTION: Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette Diver Kevin Cadeau of Northwind Divers prepare to switch shifts in a training session at Lake Manganese Saturday. Three volunteer fire departments trained on search and rescue techniques. |
By GARRETT NEESE, DMG Writer
LAKE MANGANESE — Viewed on the shore, a bundle of clothes doesn’t look much like a human body.
But in a weed-heavy lake bottom, the same lessons apply for finding both.
Keweenaw County’s volunteer firefighters tightened their tactical skills in rescue and recovery in a session at Lake Manganese Saturday afternoon.
Although only one such case occurs per year in the area, more could happen at any time, said Dick Schaefer, a member of the Copper Harbor Volunteer Fire Department and media representative.
“The frequency is not high, but the probability or potential is high because of all the lakes,” he said.
Departments from Copper Harbor, Eagle Harbor and Lac La Belle took part in the exercise, put on with divers from the Northwind Divers dive team. The Keweenaw County Sheriff’s Department sponsored the event.
Their scenario: A boat, containing a mother and a son or daughter, went down on the lake. The inebriated father was passed out on the shore. Two more children were unaccounted for.
The team took different tasks: one to interview witnesses, two divers, an incident commander, a dive tender.
The tender guides the diver in a sweep pattern, tugging the line twice to indicate when to turn, then letting out another three to four feet of line and tying a knot to indicate where the turn took place.
Bodies tend to sink straight down, so searches begin within five to 10 feet of the last seen location.
But eyewitness reports can be deceptive, Schaefer said. In most cases, when a witness gives you a distance, you subtract a few feet.
The divers swept the area, tweaking their search as witnesses watched from further down the shore.
One infant, who had waded off into the water, was resuscitated. Another was found in the bushes behind the search team.
As the one-hour mark approached, the son and the mother were still missing.
Up to an hour, it’s a rescue mission. After that, it’s recovery.
As diver Bob Kisul continued his search, it looked like two missions were about to make the leap.
“Come on, Bob,” said Northwind instructor Mike Bausano. “Come on, Bob.”
At 52 minutes, Kisul spotted the camouflaged leg of the mother sticking up.
The son stayed down.
Visibility was close to zero in the lake. Divers got snarled in the thick seaweed and surfaced looking like lagoon creatures.
“When you get down in it, it’s like being in a jungle,” said diver Kevin Cadeau.
For the recovery, they tied milk jugs to the line to keep it from sinking and snagging.
That helped keep the divers clear. But the son’s body remained hidden for another hour and 46 minutes.
The “body,” a dark brown Carhartt jacket with blue Hawaiian shorts, was standing straight up at the bottom 150 feet out — about 20 feet beyond where the witness had spotted it.
“That just compounded the problem,” said Ed Kisiel of the Eagle Harbor department.
Afterwards, they talked about ways to shave the time: Stick to the pattern. Sweep out from the shore to avoid tangling in the weeds.
Copper Harbor firefighter Dan Fosner called the experience “terrific.”
“We do these kinds of things a lot, because there’s nobody here but us to be prepared for this,” he said.
Garrett Neese can be reached at gneese@mininggazette.com
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