Dive team dream becomes reality as Fort Walton Beach gears up with top-tier equipment
Fort Walton Beach, Florida – A kind gift from SERVPRO of Fort Walton Beach has been extremely beneficial to the Fort Walton Beach Fire Department’s soon-to-launch dive team. Valued at about $16,000, the company offered four complete sets of professional-grade dive equipment—gear that will empower firefighters to react quickly and safely to crises in the water.
“This includes everything we need to get the official dive team started: From mask, snorkel and fins to BCs, to tanks, dive computers and regulators,” said Captain James Freudenberg of the Fort Walton Beach Fire Department in a release.
Armed with the tools, departmental staff members are now going through dive certification training to get ready for the team’s full operation.
The timing could not be better. Within only a few weeks, the department hopes to get a new 32-foot fire and rescue boat—a cutting-edge watercraft improving the city’s capacity to handle marine crises. A Department of Homeland Security grant paid for the vessel, which cost around $491,000, which is 75% of the total cost. Local funds through the City’s Half-Cent Surtax Revenue accounted for the remaining 25%.
The fire/rescue boat will be crewed during major water events, but on regular days, it will be operated by whichever fire crew is on duty. In urgent scenarios, faster reaction times are made possible by such flexibility together with the availability of qualified divers and dive-ready equipment onboard.
“If something happened on the water, if someone went missing, we’ll be able to make the dive right there,” said Freudenberg. “We will already be ready.”
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SERVPRO’s donation complements the company’s mission and legacy of community involvement. Supporting the dive crew, according to Nikki Dominguez, operations and construction director at SERVPRO of Fort Walton Beach, was a simple decision.
“On a local level, we have worked directly with the Fort Walton Beach Fire Department in the most critical times that people have,” said Dominguez. “We are very proud of what they’re doing, and we think it’s an investment that’s well worth it.”
Known for its cleanup and restoration services following fires, floods, and hazardous events, SERVPRO perceives this gesture as a means of returning favor to a team they have witnessed in action rather than just a gift.
The Fire Department is preparing for a new age in water rescue capabilities—made possible in part by local alliances prioritizing safety while the dive team keeps training and the rescue vessel nears arrival.
