Motorcycle and Body pulled from flooded creek near Hallsville, TX.
November 11th, 2009
On November 08, 2009, Steve Dankers and members of the ALERT dive team recovered the body of motorcyclist Antwain Chism from Little Cypress Creek north of Hallsville, Texas. Chism’s motorcycle was recovered from the river at 10:30 pm and his body at 11:10 pm.
ALERT was informed that a young man rode his motorcycle off the road into the swift moving water of the swollen Little Cypress Creek and drowned. The Marion County Dive Team had been called but the area was large and they requested help. Steve Dankers suggested the help of Longview Fire Department Dive Team and they also responded.
Marion County Dive Team located the motorcycle before ALERT and Longview F.D. arrived. Due to the cold water and dangerous conditions divers were limited in the amount of time they could search. ALERT and Longview Divers arrived on the scene at 6:50 pm and began the five hour task of locating the victim among all the debris clogging the river bottom. Despite the cold and hazardous conditions, diver’s covered approximately 15,000 square feet in low visibility water with a 0.7-knot current.
ALERT responded to the call from Harrison County Game Warden Javier Quintez and his partner Darren Peeples. They heard about ALERT from Upshur County Game Warden David Pellizzari. The International ALERT Academy appreciates the opportunity to serve their community with emergency service skills.
Click here to view the CBS19 News Report
ALERT dive team members who responded to this incident: Steve Dankers, Joel Talley, Cliff Patrick, Jedediah Backus, Gabriel Flores, Micah Justice, and Trevor Thiel.
Dive Team Recovers Wheelchair
October 20th, 2009
On October 17, 2009, Joel Talley and members of the ALERT dive team recovered a wheelchair for a fisherman at Lake Fork, TX. The dive team responded to a call on October 16 from Wood County Game Warden Kurt Kelly for a fisherman who lost his wheelchair while in a fishing tournament. Mr. Talley and his divers arrived on scene at 4:15 p.m. They searched for several hours in the area the fisherman found the wheelchair’s cushion floating. The team planned to return the next day to expand the search area.
They recovered the wheelchair on October 17 at 6:08 p.m. in 34 feet of water with little to no visibility after 2 hours of searching. The bottom of the lake was relatively clear of debris allowing the option of the Circle Search method. The divers used GPS and buoys to grid off nearly 80,000 square feet. After debriefing and packing up their gear, the ALERT divers were able to return the wheelchair to friends of the fisherman that evening.
Campus Storm Cleanup
September 7th, 2009
On the night of the July 21st a severe band of thunderstorms swept through the Big Sandy area. At the ALERT campus, power was knocked out and a number of trees were blown with some blocking roads. Sawyer crews were deployed to clear blocked roads during the night in order to allow the utility company to restore power. ERT and advanced training units gained sawyer experience throughout out the next day as they work to cut up the damaged trees both on campus and in the surrounding area.
ERT FireFighting
August 10th, 2009
During firefighting week of ERT, Responders take classes and participate in practicals that expose them to the basics of firefighting and prepare them for future service.
Men gain hands-on experience using fire extinguishers.
Gaining confidence using self-contained breathing apparatus, men travel through an obstacle course. This course simulates many fireground activities, including carrying hoses, heavy fans, climbing ladders, ventilating roofs, moving heavy objects and traveling through constricted areas.
Ladder exercises include victim removals by firefighting students.
Using different size diameter hoses and types of nozzles, men work with various handlines. Students must learn to control the nozzle reaction and how to maneuver with them as a team.
Master stream devices allow hundreds of gallons to be discharged per minute over long distances.
Vertical ventilation through a roof structure is practiced by ALERT men using power saws and hand tools.
Performing search and rescue inside a fogged building provides valuable experience for the low visibility situations they will encounter inside a structure fire. Victims must be located and removed from the building successfully to complete this exercise.
As part of a final scenario, ALERT men are faced with a live vehicle fire that they must extinguish.
Working together to apply the skills learned throughout the week, fire companies quickly knockdown and work to overhaul the involved vehicle.
ERT Sawyer Class
August 4th, 2009
In order to ready ALERT responders for future disaster relief, their second week in ERT is Sawyer class.
Under the instruction of Sgt. Jonathan Archibald, the men learned skills in chainsaw operation, maintenance, and safety.
Classroom sessions were accompanied by time spent in the field, putting the concepts to practice and refining technique.
Given the shifting weight and complicated dynamics often present with storm blown trees, a major area of practice is learning to read and work around the areas of tension and compression that can easily bind up chainsaws.
Use of safety equipment including chaps, helmet, eye and ear protection was stressed so that maximum safety can be maintained in potentially hazardous environments.
Once the groundwork has been practiced, men progress to felling standing trees. Learning to drop a standing tree in an accurate and controlled manner allows them to be confident in more complex disaster areas.
Battalion Olympics (Monday)
April 16th, 2008
