By Janis Mara
The Marin Independent Journal
SAULSALITO, Calif. — Rescuer Joe Frazier dove beneath the waters of Richardson Bay in Sausalito on Thursday, searching for a submerged Toyota Corolla with three occupants.
Only a circle of bubbles remained on the water’s surface as Frazier, a member of the Southern Marin Fire District’s elite dive team, descended. Quickly, he located the car and “saved” the 150-pound dummy seatbelted inside, to the applause of his teammates participating in the training exercise.
“We’re practicing our skills to make sure we’re as fast as possible,” said Matt Bouchard, a district captain and the leader of the 15-member dive team. “The window of survivability is small. We want to give everyone a fighting chance.”
When a car sinks, there is a bubble of air inside. Depending on variables such as the car’s age and condition, the occupants likely have no more than a few minutes’ worth of air. The purpose of the training is to fine-tune the team’s efficiency to help them save lives.
Led by Bouchard, the team trained along with the San Francisco and Stockton fire dive teams Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ debris yard near the Bay Model.
“We are practicing skills and going over techniques. We want to make sure all three agencies have the same standard operating procedures,” Bouchard said.
Cooperation between both teammates and agencies is key, the captain said. Only two fire departments in the Bay Area have dive teams, San Francisco and Southern Marin. The other teams are associated with law enforcement agencies. All dive teams typically work together on rescues.
“We assisted with a call in Alameda when someone plunged into the water,” said Southern Marin fire Battalion Chief Matt Barnes.
In that incident, a man’s SUV plowed through a guardrail in a grocery store parking lot and crashed into the Oakland-Alameda Estuary.
In such operations, “the incident would have 12-15 personnel,” Barnes said. Workers on land operate communications, rope lines and orientation, while at least two divers go in the water plus a “safety” diver on land and other divers for backup.
The Toyota was donated to the fire department by Corte Madera Tow in January and the fluids and engine were removed to avoid polluting the bay, Bouchard said.
Clad in an orange dive suit with yellow weights strapped around his waist and air tanks on his back, lead diver Frazier waded backward down a concrete ramp into the water. Fellow diver Tahoe Boaz accompanied him while a third diver, Mark Fischer, also clad in an orange dive suit, waited on land.
“Once the primary diver comes up with the victim, he can pass the victim to the surface diver,” Bouchard said.
Frazier, Boaz and Fischer are also firefighters. Dive team members receive no additional pay and serving on the team is strictly voluntary.
“We do this because we want to save lives,” Bouchard said.
“This is probably one of the most dangerous things we do. There’s zero visibility,” he said.
A civilian who attempted to rescue the driver in the Alameda incident found this out firsthand.
“It became completely black. I couldn’t even see my hands,” Brian Tetirick, who attempted to help though he had no training, said at the time. The driver did not survive.
Back at the Sausalito training, lead diver Frazier was modest about his accomplishments.
Compared with running into a burning building, he said, diving is “just a different challenge.”
Copyright 2016 The Marin Independent Journal