PEORIA, AZ — Peoria fire responds to calls on Lake Pleasant often. Now they are widening their capabilities with a new boat equipped to handle all types of situations.
“What we can actually do with this is, we can actually beach this boat and use this as a ramp coming down to the shore... bringing patients back up on the boat and it makes patient safety much better,” says Captain Mark Barbee, Peoria Fire-Medical Department.
There is a four-person crew 24/7 who are all certified rescue swimmers and boat operators. They go through extensive training.
“So, what the deck gun demonstrates right now is if we were over here in the marina and we had more than one boat on fire or part of the marina was on fire, this could get large volumes of water on it from great distance to keep us safe and also, put the fire out more quickly,” says Captain Barbee.
The boat also has sonar technology with night vision and the ability to respond in zero light with GPS, along with a 3-D scan.
“It detects on the sides of the boat and down and helps us find objects, whatever that object might be,” says Captain Barbee.
Everything you would find on a traditional fire truck is ready and set to go on the boat, along with life is noise-canceling headphones so crews can communicate. They try to cover all of their bases.
“So if we are at a remote location at the north end of the lake, and you're miles from anybody, we'll have medicine, we'll have a heart monitor, we'll have IV equipment,” says Captain Barbee.
Peoria fire reminds people to be aware of their surroundings and wear some type of flotation device, especially now that the lake has become increasingly busy.
