Fresno Fire conducts water rescue training on San Joaquin River
The Fresno County Sheriff's Office has prohibited recreating on the river because of the dangerous conditions.
FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The Fresno Fire Department's Water Rescue Team along with Fresno County Fire, the Fresno County Sheriff's Office, American Ambulance, and Fresno Fire's Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) spent Monday evening on the San Joaquin River near Nees and Palm Avenues.
This training was actually planned months ago, before the historic storms. Then the San Joaquin was flowing about 500 cubic feet of water per second (cfs).
Monday, it was just under 9,000 cfs - a prime example of why the rescue teams need to stay sharp.
The Fresno County Sheriff's Office has prohibited recreating on the river because of the dangerous conditions.
"Even though we know people aren't supposed to be on the water, they end up there anyway. We need to be able to train in these conditions so when the real call comes, we're able to operate under these conditions as well," said Captain James Perkins, Fresno Fire Water Rescue Team Coordinator.
One challenge crews are getting ready for as the season goes on: trees, now in the middle of the river.
Perkins said training events like this one sharpen life-saving skills that will be needed as the water rises in the coming months.
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