Timberline Lions Club Donates Ice Rescue Equipment to San Bernardino County and Los Angeles County Fire Departments

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Thanks to a generous donation by the Timberline Lion's Club of Wrightwood, California, San Bernardino County and Los Angeles County firefighters can now protect visitors to Jackson Lake more effectively. The Lion's Club donated approximately $5,000.00 to purchase 4 state-of-the-art ice rescue suits, a reaching pole system, rescue sleds, a line gun, and 2 grappling hooks. This donation was made in response to the danger that this and other thin Southern California lakes present.

According to Megan Blaney, the Public Information Officer for the San Bernardino County Fire Department OES, "People try and walk out here on the ice all of the time even though there are thin ice signs. They think that it's safe, but really it's not. We're in Southern California, and the sun shines all day, weakening that ice."

Such an attempt by two young boys turned deadly on Christmas of 2007, when they ventured out onto Jackson Lake and fell into the water. Claro Claridad, a Victorville man, tried to rescue the two children, and while the boys survived, Claridad did not. Recognizing the fire departments' need for specialized ice rescue equipment that they could not afford on their own, the Timberline Lion's Club spent one-fifth of their annual charitable giving budget to make the purchase. Explaining their reasons for this donation, Timberline Lion John Bauer says, "Before they couldn't go in the water because it was so cold that they would have problems themselves."

Jackson Lake is located in the Angeles National Forest, and is a 20' deep strip of water next to Big Pines Highway near Wrightwood, California. Although it is in Los Angeles County, San Bernardino County Fire Department's Wrightwood Station 101 is the closest station to the lake and is the first unit to respond to emergencies there. Because of this, 90 firefighters and officers from both the Los Angeles County Fire Department and the San Bernardino County Fire Department participated in a three day training event, where they practiced ice rescues with the new equipment. Members of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and firefighters from Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear City also attended the exercise.

Of the multi-agency training, Battalion Chief Joel Harrison of the North Regional Operations Bureau of the Los Angeles County Fire Department said, "To be able to do an exercise like this together with them is highly beneficial, not just from a standpoint of learning how to use the equipment but to be able to put faces to names and talk to each other directly in a non-emergency situation during training, so we can work better together when we do have a natural emergency."

The new state-of-the-art dry rescue suits are insulated and are 100% buoyant. Firefighters who practiced with the suits reaped high praise upon the equipment, testifying that they were not hindered in their rescue efforts by the cold water temperatures because of the suits' insulation. Fire Chiefs also participated in the training exercise, and Battalion Chief Larry LaVogue of the San Bernardino County Fire Department's North Desert Division said of the rescue suits, "You're almost lulled into a sense of security in there. You don't realize the water temperature is 28 degrees and colder. It's totally comfortable. You can be in a regular dry suit and still feel the cold. With these encapsulated cold weather suits you don't feel that."

The new equipment will be housed at Wrightwood Fire Station 101 to help rescuers in the event of future lake emergencies. Even though first responders now have top of the line rescue equipment, Division Chief Tim Wessel of the San Bernardino County Fire Department's North Desert Division warns visitors to Jackson Lake and other Southern California lakes that they must be careful and avoid walking on these thin bodies of water. "It's nice to look at. It's nice to come up here and enjoy this winter season, but stay off the ice. The ice is not meant for you to be out there walking around on it, and unfortunately, the only thing it's going to normally lead to is tragedy."