VIDEO: When someone gets swept up in the current, who jumps in to save them? It’s often Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue’s (TVF&R) water rescue team. Every Monday during the year, rain or shine, the crew sets off on boats in the Willamette River to simulate rescue scenarios, learning to steer boards and swim in the rough waters.
Each team member wears a whistle, a knife, a radio, and a flashlight, just a few of the essential tools that make or break a rescue mission. “These rivers are all different, we respond to a really large area and every year the river changes, the hazards change, and getting to know the waterways well helps us in those rescues, helps us get to those people on time,” said Water Rescue Captain Robin Peters.
TVF&R’s Water Rescue Team has two 4-person crews, based in West Linn and Newberg. Lake Oswego Fire Department, the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office, and the Clackamas Fire District will often join trainings, all of which make up the Clackamas County Water Rescue Consortium.
The consortium covers about 50 miles of the Willamette River, from Salem to Portland, and all of Clackamas County. On Thursday, the TVF&R team headed upstream to Willamette Falls. Once they were close enough to the falls to be caught up in rapids, a team member jumped overboard and floated in the choppy waters before another team member jumped from a second boat and swam out to ‘save’ him.
