WESTERN RESERVE FIRE DISTRICT Department weighs buying rescue boat

Officials say the boat would be an asset, particularly during flooding.
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
POLAND -- Firefighters with the Western Reserve Joint Fire District might soon add to their rescue equipment.
Fire Chief David Comstock Jr. said the department is considering buying an inflatable four- to six-person rescue boat.
Comstock said the rescue boat is unique to any others in the area because it is inflatable. The boat, he said, could be stored much easier than a traditional boat, carried to water easier, and inflated at a rescue site by firefighters using air bottles.
Comstock said the idea to buy a boat for the department was prompted by recent flooding in the area. He said a small boat could have been used in areas such as Canterbury Creek, when floodwaters made it impossible for emergency and rescue vehicles to make it through the streets.
"In the back of some of those houses, a 10-foot lake was created. We also had problems during floods of 2003," Comstock said. "Flooding two years in a row made the department take a look at some means of transportation into those areas not accessible by fire engines."
Even if the area does not see more heavy rain and flooding in the near future, Comstock said, the boat could still be put to use. He said the boat is ideal for rescuing individuals who have fallen through ice on frozen lakes.
"The biggest concern we have where the boat could be used is in ice rescue," he said. "If a child should fall through the ice, this boat could assist the fire department because of its design."
Comstock said the boat would be ideal for Lake Hamilton, Burgess Lake and other small waterways in and around the township during the winter months. He said the department has not had an emergency where someone had fallen through ice on a lake, but he wants the department to be prepared if it does happen.
Comstock said nearby communities do have boats for rescues, but, he said, they are not inflatable and not good for ice rescue.
Should the district buy the boat, Comstock said, it would be available to other communities.
Comstock said the boat costs about $7,500. The fire district, he said, would pay for it and could have it as early as January.
jgoodwin@vindy.com