TEMPLE, Texas — In the season of showers and storms, local firefighters are brushing up on their skills and knowledge when it comes to swiftwater rescues.
Multiple departments, including Killeen, Temple and Bryan Fire, were out running exercises on the downstream side of the Belton Lake Dam near Miller Springs Park in mid-May. They're only able to train for swiftwater when the dam is releasing plenty of water, as it creates the right conditions.
"Two months ago, there was no opportunity to train here, but now, thankfully, we've gotten some rains that we needed and it's helped us to get our training in," said Captain Bradley Jansen with the Killeen Fire Department.
6 News got to see the crews in action and also hit the water with them to see what the exercises entail. The exercises include practicing victim and crew recovery, car rescues and also working on navigating through hazards.
"Very important that we do this training," said Jansen. "This is a very low-frequency type of event that happens but very high risk, so we want to be as well prepared as we possibly can. We've had rescues in the past where we've had to save people out of cars, out of their own homes. A lot of these guys are members of the Texas Task Force 1, where they go across the state to do the same thing when we have big events."
Being on the swiftwater team for Killeen Fire is voluntary, although once a firefighter elects to be on the team, they are required to have a certain amount of training time. However, this time of the year is when they try to train the most.
"We want to train basically when it's going to matter and when we're going to have more frequency of events so that we're better prepared," Jansen said. "Summer is coming up so people are gonna be on the lakes. We've got to train for that. Then, with all the rains this time of year, this is Texas so you never know when we're gonna have a huge downpour. Any time of the year that we can get it in, we're gonna get it in."
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