New Troup County search and rescue team deals with multiple tragedies

New Troup County search and rescue team has deadly summer

The Troup County Fire Department just took over dive team duties at West Point Lake this year and has had a tragic inaugural summer with the recovery of three drowning victims in two weeks.

TROUP COUNTY, Ga. - It’s been a grim summer for a new Troup County Fire Department dive team that just started on West Point Lake this past Spring. As FOX 5 recently reported, there have been three drownings in just two weeks this month. The new dive team has been responsible for recovering the bodies of all three victims.

The backstory:

A bit of history -- It used to be that the Troup County Sheriff’s Office ran the dive team that worked West Point Lake. However, retirements took their toll on that program. To fill the gap, the county turned to dive teams from Columbus or Muscogee counties. 

Happening Now:

That is until the Troup County Fire Department stepped up, with funding from the board of commissioners for twelve divers and a boat. The new team is currently made up of nine Troup County firefighters with three positions to be filled.

"With the support of the board of commissioners and the sheriff’s office, we were able to outfit one of their older boats. We sent 12 divers to diver school, which is something we’ve done," said EMA Director Zac Steele.

Big picture view:

FOX 5 was with the team on West Point Lake as they simulated an emergency response to a downing. This training was near Highland Marina.

In this simulation, a single diver with a tether to help communicate with the shore swims an underwater arc in an area where, in the scenario, a swimmer has gone under.

To understand how dark the lake gets, the team shared a video in which a diver goes down to a depth of just seven feet and into total darkness. And so say they use touch rather than sight in the recovery of a drowning victim. Once the person is found, a second diver swims out to assist and mark the location.

These divers in a drowning recovery are part of a larger team on the water that the fire department boat, a sonar-equipped boat from the Troup County Sheriff’s Office, as well as a ranger from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

What we know:

The fire department divers started their training last fall and took over duties on the lake this past spring. It has looked to be a calm summer, until July 1st, when tragedy struck with the West Point Lakes' first drowning of the year. Four days later another. And a few days after that, another. Three in under two weeks. All the victims were recovered by the new team, and each time in under an hour and a half, considerably less time than if the county and loved ones waited for a distant dive team to arrive.

"We are able to provide some closure for these families who are waiting," Steele said.

To give you some perspective, we were told West Point Lake averages about two to three drownings a year. They’ve had three here in the first weeks of July.