NOTABLE INCIDENTS IN 2019
By Dan Nelson
L
ike many department programs that came before it,
the boat program started with nothing more than
vision, determination and hard work from both fire
admin and members of Local 935. 2019 has been a year of
tremendous growth and progress for County Fire’s boat program. The ultimate
goal of the program is to become one of the nation’s leading inland waterways
fire boat program. Obviously, this is a very lofty goal and will require many
years to obtain. 2019 has been a year of tremendous growth and progress for
County Fire’s boat program reaching this goal. In this edition of FIREWIRE,
we will share with the reader where we are currently with the program, and
where we are heading into the future.
TRAINING
32 FIREWIRE • FALL 2019
them to design a training program that was specific
for the missions that we perform during inland wa-
terways operations. Through extensive testing and
revision of the curriculum, the boat cadre was able
to deliver the first of a three-class series for fire
boat certification, the deckhand class.
The key element of any successful fire service
program is a solid training structure, and the boat
program is no different. Initially, the training plan
consisted of finding an excellent inland waterways
fire boat training class and send members of our
department to that class and bring the knowledge
back to SBCoFD. After a long search by several mem-
bers of the boat cadre we discovered that no such
program existed. After speaking with many depart-
ments that have fireboats on inland waterways the
cadre learned that training on these boats were typ-
ically informal on-the-job training sessions. Some of
the agencies had task books that needed to be com-
pleted while others did not. Although, many of these
departments have very successful boating programs
the cadre knew that our department would require
more, and for good reason. The cadre realized that
they would have to build their own boat training pro-
gram from scratch. The deckhand class is an entry level class and is
required to serve as a crew member on fireboats.
The three-day class includes an introduction to the
SBCoFD fire boat program, basic maritime nomen-
clature, marlin spiking, firefighting operations, and
water rescue techniques from our fire boat plat-
forms. Classes were taught on the Colorado River
near Needles, Lake Arrowhead, and Lake Havasu.
Student evaluations of the class have been very pos-
itive thus far, and the cadres from both the Mountain
Division and the River Battalion look forward to de-
livering the course again in the future.
The knowledge required to build a successful fire
boat training program would come from many
sources. Members of the cadre attended classes
taught by Lake Assault (our boat manufacturer),
San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Boating Division,
Los Angeles County Fire Department, and the United
States Coast Guard. Members of the cadre took the
knowledge that they acquired in these classes, Riv-
er and Flood Rescue training and our department’s
swift water rescue operations directive and adapted The curriculum for the next two classes in the se-
ries, helmsman and skipper, are currently being de-
veloped. The goal is to complete the curriculum by
the end of 2019, and beta test each of the remaining
courses in late winter so that the classes will be
ready to deliver in early spring before the start of
the 2020 boating season. In addition, a final draft of
the boat task boat has been submitted for approval
recently. This document should also be ready prior
to start of next boat season.
In 2019, SBCoFD fire boats responded to multiple
incidents in Lake Arrowhead, Big Bear Lake, Colo-
rado River, Lake Havasu and the Parker Strip. The
incidents consisted of medical aids, boat crashes,
searches for drowning victims and fires. In March,
while conducting a deckhand class on the Colorado
River, the BT-32 crew was requested to respond to
a wildland fire in Lake Havasu that was threatening
the Contact Point Marina in Arizona. Contact Point
Marina is home to the Boat Safety Center for Lake
Havasu. The safety center is headquarters for most
of the public safety boats in Lake Arrowhead and the
nearby portions of the Colorado River including both
San Bernardino and Mohave County Sheriff’s boats.
The mission of BT-32 was to protect all the law
enforcement boats in the marina as the fire came
through the marina and along the shoreline. BT-32
crew which consisted of three members of the cadre
and three students were able to use both the deck
gun and handlines in very tight quarters to accom-
plish the mission. that BT-32 has fought fire in three separate states
(California, Nevada, and Arizona). Not bad for only
being in service for two seasons.
In August, BT-32 was again requested to respond to
a vegetation fire along the water. This time the fire
was in Laughlin, Nevada near Big Bend State Park.
The crew responded from its home port at Pirate
Cove and arrived to find approximately 100 acres of
brush involved in and around the park area. BT-32
was given the task of checking the shoreline along
the park for victims that may be trapped by the fire.
Once that task was accomplished (fortunately, no
victims were trapped), BT-32 was re-assigned to
fire attack. It is estimated that BT-32 flowed over
80,000 gallons of water during the fire attack. With
the fire assignment complete, it can now be said Then in July, BT-92 responded to a report of a boat
accident involving the Arrowhead Queen tour boat
and a pontoon boat. This incident occurred when the
driver of the pontoon boat made a hard turn in order
to retrieve a downed water skier. The driver of the
pontoon broadsided the much larger tour boat that
was loaded with tourists. Obviously, this could have
been a huge disaster, but fortunately, there was only
one minor injury report, the driver of the pontoon
boat. He was transported to a waiting ambulance at
a nearby marina by BT-32. The tour boat returned to
port to be inspected for damage and was returned
to service the following day.
BT-92 out of Lake Arrowhead, responded to some
notable calls these season as well. On June 8, BT-92
responded to a call for a man trapped inside the ma-
chine room of an electric tram system that ran from
the shore of Lake Arrowhead to homes in the area.
While performing maintenance on the tram system,
cables from the tram came lose and entrapped the
maintenance workers legs. The tram motor contin-
ued to run squeezing the man’s legs. The man was
able to dial 9-1-1 and both BT-92 and ME-91 respond-
ed. The crew from BT-92 arrived on scene first and
shut off power to the lift and began working to free
the man from the massive metal cables. Once freed
from the cables, the maintenance worker was load-
ed onto BT-32 and transported to a dock in which a
County Fire ambulance was waiting to transport the
man to the hospital.
SPECIAL EVENTS
As in the previous year, SBCoFD fire boats were
requested to participate in event coverage assign-
ments such as the annual Parker Tube Float, various
standby’s, and weekend and holiday coverage along
the Colorado River. The primary purpose of using
the boat for these events is obviously public safety,
but there has been an additional benefit to the boat
program as well, the ability to network with other
public safety agencies that provide service on inland
waterways. This year alone we were able to build
strong relationships with the Los Angeles Coun-
ty Dive Team, Buckskin Fire Department, Mohave
County and La Paz County Sheriff’s Departments, US
Coast Guard, Arizona Fish and Game, and improve
our already great relationship with San Bernardino
County Sheriff’s boat division. These relationships
are critical to providing additional training opportu-
nities and for actual mission success on the water
for all agencies involved.
WHAT’S NEXT
Coming improvements to the program include the
recent delivery of BT-96 which will be assigned to
Big Bear Lake. The boat has an ice breaker bow
which will allow the unit to be in service year-round.
This boat will be critical in saving lives boat on the
water and the ice of Big Bear Lake. The boat is cur-
rently at the shop being outfitted with radios, lights,
and other required equipment. The boat should be in
service by the first week in November.
This past season, boat crews from the River Battal-
ion selected and successfully tested a boat uniform
that is both mission functional in +110-degree heat
and professional in appearance. The uniform is now
being reviewed by the uniform committee. A ruling
on the proposed uniform is expected soon.
As previously mentioned, the curriculum for both
the helmsman and skipper class are being developed
now and will be completed by the end of the 2019.
Beta testing of classes will be a joint effort between
the Mountain and River cadres in early 2020. The
plan is to offer these two classes in addition to the
deckhand class being currently offered by the Spring
of 2020. More information on these will be distribut-
ed via department email in the coming months.
The 2019 boating season was successful for the SB-
CoFD boat program. Overall the program improved
tremendously over the past year, but as with all pro-
grams at SBCoFD, we look forward to progressing
further and ensuring that the department’s goal of
“Premier Service” is attained and held. The staff at
FIREWIRE looks forward to watching the boat pro-
gram and move forward and will be sure to keep our
readers apprised of its progress in future issues.
Fire Rescue Boat & River Battalion Boat Coordinator:
B/C Donnie Viloria
Mountain Division Boat Coordinator: B/C Steve Tracy
FALL 2019 • FIREWIRE 33