PITTSFIELD, Mass. – The Pittsfield Fire Department’s newly re-formed dive rescue team teamed up with the Berkshire County Sheriff’s office for a training drill on Pontoosuc Lake Monday morning.

“We’re all trained to the same level. We all wear the same equipment,” said Lieutenant Colonel Tom Grady of the Berkshire County Sheriff’s Office. “By pooling those resources, we’ve really been able to enhance the availability of trained rescuers throughout the county.” 

What You Need To Know

  • The Pittsfield Fire Department and Berkshire County Sheriff’s office held a dive rescue team training session on Monday
  • The drill involved a baby, in this case a mannequin, going overboard from a boat
  • Divers were able to successfully recover the mannequin from the lake
  • The drill was considered a success, despite an unforeseen hiccup

The drill involved a baby, in this case a mannequin, going overboard from a boat. The response started with interviewing a witness, the role of which was played by Mayor Linda Tyer.

“We also train how witnesses react,” said Captain Tim Conroy of the Pittsfield Fire Department. “Where they’re going to tell us where they thought they saw the person drop the victim or where the person drowned and was last seen, and we use that to establish where our search patterns are.”

After they set up the search area, divers got into the water and successfully recovered the ‘victim.’

Lt. Col. Grady felt the drill went smoothly, even with an unforeseen hiccup.

“It exactly went how real life goes,” said Grady. “You plan for the best and you prepare for the worst as well. We had a little bit of an issue today with our initial diver. We were able to get him quickly out of the water, put the back-up diver in and continue the operation.”

Grady said it can be helpful when things don’t go perfectly in training, because it helps the team learn how to react to unexpected scenarios.

“It’s all about safety,” said Grady. “That’s really what it is. We want to help whoever we can when the call comes in, but we also want to make sure that every one of the people that are on the team get home safe.”