By John Ghirardini
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Copyright 2006 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Something out of the ordinary often happens at Fire Station 14 in Buford when the alarm rings.
Instead of clambering into the heavy fire-resistant clothing, boots and helmets in the summer heat, the firefighters pull on wetsuits and prepare their WaveRunners, ropes, boat, swim fins and masks before heading out, sirens screaming.
Although most Gwinnett firefighters battle blazes exclusively, this special unit based at Station 14 has an added responsibility: It takes on water-based emergencies, whether in a river with a raging current, a flash-flooded ravine or a lake 100 feet deep.
The Swiftwater Rescue Team of 30-plus firefighters is based just minutes from Buford Dam, Lake Lanier and the Chattahoochee River, where much of its training and many of its calls occur. A group of 11 is the full complement for each 24-hour-on, 48-hour-off shift.
The team is responsible for water rescue calls in the county from the dam in the north to the Yellow River in the south and on anything larger than a puddle in between.
The Chattahoochee area alone includes 24 miles of shoreline from the dam to Medlock Bridge Road in Duluth.
Last year, the team answered 22 calls, 12 of which required rescues, according to the fire department. That’s in addition to answering regular fire and ambulance calls.
There have been 11 call-outs for the special team so far this year, fire department spokesman Lt. Thomas Rutledge said.
Swiftwater is one of three special teams in the fire department, along with hazardous materials and technical rescue, that handle trench collapses and the like.
“None of the special-team members get paid extra,” said Battalion Chief Charles Wells, who heads the fire department’s special operations division. “They just want to do extra for the department and the public.”
Each week, the Swiftwater team — along with Forsyth County’s unit, one of the metro area’s busiest — takes a training day to hone its skills in boat, swimming, personal watercraft and rope rescue techniques.
“We try to train everybody to do every job,” said Station 14 shift commander Capt. Jeff Norton, who helped found the unit in 1996. “It’s a team effort.”
It takes a special breed of firefighter to put in the time and effort required to become part of the all-volunteer unit, he said.
Surprisingly, being a great swimmer is not necessarily a prerequisite.
“Most of the team aren’t Olympic swimmers but are very efficient in the water,” said Norton, a 20-year department veteran. “You’ve got people who are naturally comfortable and confident in the water.”
The unit has two Wave-Runner personal watercrafts and a Zodiac inflatable boat for their work as well as ropes, wetsuits and towed “scoop stretchers,” also called Stokes baskets.
Each has its particular use — the WaveRunners are more useful on still water such as a pond or lake, for example; the Zodiac is more controllable and practical for river rescues.
Last week, the team went to the Chattahoochee just below Buford Dam to practice during the middle of a water release.
Though the power-generation releases are scheduled and posted, rafters, canoeists and anglers on the Hooch often are caught by surprise both by the rising water level and the speed of the current.
Norton said that during a release, the water’s depth can rise by as much as 9 feet. The current can reach 10 mph. And the water temperature can be chilly enough to bring the onset of hypothermia within 15 minutes.
“It’s a very physically abusive training session,” Norton said as he watched his team go through its paces last week.
To make matters even more difficult, he said, nearly 90 percent of the team’s rescues are done at night — and not just in summer.
But team members wouldn’t have it any other way.
John McGriff, 30, is one of the newest members, having joined just a month ago. Mc-Griff, a four-year firefighter who as a Marine was a helicopter mechanic, likes to work out, and the strenuousness required on the Swiftwater team appealed to him.
“It’s probably the most physical specialty team in the department,” he said.
At the opposite end of the spectrum is Butch Davenport, an original team member who joined the department with Norton in 1986 and helped him form the team.
He doesn’t begrudge all the time and effort he’s put into getting proficient at water rescues.
“There’s no telling how much time we’ve devoted to this,” he said. “We’ve been all over the state [for training]. It’s something you’ve really got to be dedicated to.”