Virginia Beach, Va. - If you were fishing off Rudee Inlet today, you may have seen the Virgina Beach Fire Department inflating their survival rafts in the Atlantic Ocean.
The Virginia Beach Fire Department's Marine Operations Team was conducting water training this weekend. Part of their drilling took place in a pool where the fire fighters had to perform such tasks as swimming 300 feet without stopping, treading water for 5 minutes without touching the bottom, and perform a front surface dive of 10 feet to retrieve objects!
While on their 21-foot rescue vessel in the open water, fire fighters trained on how to use survival rafts, signal flares and the Stokes basket.
The Marine Operations Team often acts as first responders for fires on water vessels, swimmers in distress and assists the US Coast Guard in emergency situations. The team also assists yearly with HarborFest in Norfolk.
