Dive Rescue and Recovery Team

Saranac Lake is a popular tourist area for boaters, fisherman and other water enthusiasts.  Water related incidents occur frequently year round.  Saranac Lake is located in upstate New York in Franklin County.  In this vast territory there are dozens of lakes, ponds, and rivers common to the Adirondack Mountains.

The Saranac Lake Volunteer Fire Department Dive Rescue, and Recovery Team was first started in 1960 by Chester Fobare.  Mr. Fobare received his dive certification and then his instructors certification.  He then trained a few interested members in becoming certified divers for the department.  Following Mr, Fobare, Kenneth McLaughlin served as Dive Captain for over 40 years. Today dive team members consist of certified divers and specially trained  dive tenders.  Certified divers currently serving on the dive team are  Dive Captain Brendan Keough, Dive Safety Officer Kenneth McLaughlin,  Bill Madden, Douglas Peck, Andrea Boon, Daryl Brier and Nate Jones.

The dive team utilizes 4 boats for operations.  The boats consist of an 18 foot Achilles inflatable with a 65 HP, 18 foot john boat with a 40 hp motor, a 12 foot v-hull with a fiften hp power motor, and a 24 foot 1000 Island Airboat with a 640 hp GM  motor.  These water craft are also used on any surface Ice water, fire or rescue calls as needed.

Safety is the key word for dive team members, no member is required to dive if they do not feel capable of the task.  The team has a maximum dive depth of 60 feet, although some team members have dove to 100 feet for victim recoveries under certain circumstances. The dives we make are considered cold water dives as the lakes, ponds, and rivers are under 70 degrees fahrenheit year round.  Visibility is considered poor and ranges from 0 feet to 5 feet in most, if not all bodies of water.  Rescue and recovery dives have been made in open water in June as well as under the ice in February. 

Public safety diving requies advanced level training and equipment. SLVFD dive team now utilizes full face masks and hardwired underwater communications system.  The equipment and the department's trained divers are not only an asset to the area surrounding Saranac Lake, the team frequently travels out of the area in a mutual aid capacity.

Dive Team Training Video

Dive Team having a little Winter Carnival fun 

The dive team is now looking to increase it's size by recruiting new members.