LAFD firefighter goes missing while freediving in Long Beach

The search for a 29-year-old firefighter from the Los Angeles Fire Department who went missing Wednesday night while freediving in Long Beach with two other men has transitioned to a recovery effort authorities said Thursday night.

He disappeared while inside the water with the other divers near the Pier J fishing pier, according to the Long Beach Fire Department. The two other men returned to a boat they had all been on and realized he was gone, reporting him missing at 9:55 p.m., fire officials said. LAFD Chief Kristin Crowley said the firefighter had the day off during the dive and had been with the department for six years. He was identified as Connor Lees by police on Friday.

Nineteen divers from seven different local law enforcement agencies had joined the search by 7 a.m. the next morning.

While the diver, was wearing a mask, he had no tank since he had been freediving in an area of the ocean that's about 30 to 40 feet deep, said Brian Fisk, a spokesman for the Long Beach Fire Department. U.S. Coast Guard and the fire department have described the missing man as a lobster diver although it's not clear if he was working in commercial fishing or diving recreationally.

Freediving requires divers to hold their breath for long stretches of times as they go into deep ocean water, facing challenges not only with this extensive breath-holding but also with the resistance of water pressure, which rises the deeper the water is. Such challenges can lead to medical complications, and in some cases, can lead to loss of consciousness or even death, according to a study by water sports researchers at the University School of Physical Education' in Krakow, Poland.

Fisk said silty conditions make it difficult to see underwater in the area where the diver went missing.

"As in-water operations continued tirelessly for more than 19 hours, the survivability profile of the diver and decreased visibility made it
difficult to sustain prolonged search operations. Based on these factors and the extended time since the diver was last seen, the decision was made Thursday evening by Unified Command to transition from a search and rescue mission to a recovery operation," reads a statement the LAFD posted on its website on Thursday. 

The agencies involved in the search efforts include the Los Angeles County Fire Department, LA Fire Department, Port of Long Beach Police, Long Beach Police Department diving team, Long Beach Fire Department, Long Beach Lifeguards and Port of LA divers.