Lorain Fire adds water rescue equipment to toolbox

LORAIN — The Lorain Fire Department purchased a remote-controlled buoy and a pneumatic line thrower to help potential swimmers in distress in Lake Erie and the Black River. The purchase comes as a way to help fill the gap left by the U.S. Coast Guard no longer staffing the Lorain station, Lorain fire Capt. Mark Stack said. "We just need to have something to be able to help a victim that we could reach," Stack said. "... I just want to make sure this was all in place this summer to be able to help us." In a statement to The Chronicle-Telegram, Coast Guard District 9 Public Affairs Lt. Phillip Gurtler said the Lorain base is no longer a seasonal station, but used as a "forward operating location," based on specific missions or operations in the area. According to the Coast Guard, Lorain is under overlapping coverage areas, including the Coast Guard and local search and rescue teams. Limiting the staffing there allows the Coast Guard to consolidate its personnel and assets to provide "more resilient coverage." Boating communications are unchanged. Firefighters tested the new equipment Tuesday morning at Lakeview Beach. The U Safe, a self-propelled, remote-controlled lifebuoy, can reach the lake's breakwall from the shore in seconds, Stack estimated, beating even the department's strongest swimmer. The ResQMax shoots a rope attached to a water-activated life preserver up to 500 feet, allowing crews to pull someone to shore without getting into the water themselves. In total, the equipment cost the fire department about $8,000 — for Stack, it was money well spent. Stack and other firefighters were on scene in 2022 when two swimmers drowned at Lakeview Park Beach at the start of summer. On May 31, 2022, Jesus Del Valle Rodriguez Jr., 20, and Isaiah Barnes, 14, both drowned. Del Valle Jr. died while attempting to help Barnes. The Lorain County Metro Parks have since added rescue rings at Lakeview Beach and Century Beach. There were no lifeguards on duty at the time of the drowning. Several Lorain firefighters — Stack included — went to the beach to try to help find the young men. While the equipment may not have helped those two young men by the time firefighters arrived that evening, Stack hopes it may prevent other drownings in Lorain's waterways. "We're trying to find some options since we don't have a boat readily available to us to be able to help a conscious victim that goes into the water," Stack said. While the Lorain Police Marine Patrol has a boat, Stack said, it is not manned 24 hours a day and takes about 20 minutes to deploy. Beyond the two new tools, some of the department's stronger swimmers plan to look at completing lifeguard training or other water rescue certifications, he said. "I honestly think we've had more water victims than fire victims in the past few years," Stack said. "When it comes to life safety, it's a big hazard in the city — we have a big river and all this lakefront." Firefighters will be out at Lakeview Park training throughout the week on the new equipment, which will be housed at Central Station. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com