Sacramento firefighters prepare for emergency situations as more civilians flock to waterways amid rising temperatures
SACRAMENTO — Sacramento Metro Fire crews are getting ready for one of the hottest days of the year so far where many will be heading to local waterways to try and cool off.
As people prepare to hit the water, so do firefighters. They have been training to prepare for emergency situations.
"So we've gone through or had helicopter crews go through hoist rescue training," Fire Captain Parker Wilbourn said. "We've gone through all of our boat operators and gone through boat refresher training."
Capt. Wilbourn showed us one of the jet boats used. There are three of them in district two strategically located along the river at Bradshaw and Coloma and the other at Bradshaw road.
"The idea behind that is to come upriver and downriver and potentially be locating those victims along the way," Wilbourn said.
Wilbourn said each boat is manned with four people on a complex mission: saving lives amid a chaotic and potentially dangerous rescue operation.
"We have a company officer that's navigating, that's managing communications and general oversight of the operation," he said. "We've got a boat operator who is at the helm that's directing the boat and the placement of the boat to make sure we can affect that rescue, and then we have two rescue swimmers."
Keeping rescuers safe and keeping onlookers calm will take a coordinated effort that requires practice and patience each year and every year.
