River rescue equipment arrives

RESCUE LAUNCHER: Tim Weatherson of Lake California Fire Department tries his hand at new rescue equipment acquired by Cottonwood Fire Protection District. Once the launched projectile hits the water, a life preserver inflates and a victim can be pulled ashore by an attached line.

Ready to test out new water rescue equipment procured by the Cottonwood Fire Protection District, fire fighters stood on the banks of the lake in Lake California with one fire fighter, Captain Mark Ratledge, floating in the water about 200 feet away.

Cal Fire firefighter Kay May picked up the equipment, a ResQmax model that pneumatically launches a projectile with a rescue line up to 300 feet away. The rifle can be outfitted with a simple projectile or with a life preserver that inflates upon contacting water. When the life preserver inflates, the drowning victim can be pulled to shore.

May took aim near the floating fire fighter and squeezed the trigger.

She winced as a gust of oxygen hit her and the projectile flew toward her target. Charged by the oxygen bottles already used by the fire fighters, the ResQmax launcher provides simple way firefighters to make water rescues, said Ratledge, who led the training session with fire fighters from the Cottonwood district, Cal Fire and Lake California Fire Department.

The new equipment posed some problems during training, however, as one rocket prematurely leaked air-pressure resulting in a disappointing launch — a 100-foot blooper.

Jim Flaherty, chief of the Cottonwood district, called the training a learning experience to work the kinks out of the equipment and provide firefighters with some familiarity with the equipment. He said he expects his crew and the equipment to be ready this month.

In a telephone interview the following the training, Ratledge said he fixed the equipment, citing a pinched O-ring as the cause of the air leak. He expects to host another training session on the Sacramento River with other agencies in the near future.

Using the equipment is much cheaper for the district than purchasing a rescue watercraft, which requires firefighters receive and maintain swift water rescue certification, Flaherty said.

The district purchased the equipment with a $4,995 grant in April from the Redding Rancheria through the Shasta Regional Community Foundation.