High Lake Levels, Heavy Rain Keep Metro Dive Team Busy During Storms

The flooding in the metro has been keeping the Oklahoma City Fire Department Dive Team busy the past couple of days. 

One of the Captains at OKCFD told News 9 their phone has been ringing off the hook with water rescue calls. Despite the busy time, they are fully staffed and ready to respond at any time. 

“A lot of these calls came in just over a 2–3-hour period so our crews were very, very busy. Our incident board was full of calls city wide. Our crews did respond to about 30 calls over the past day and a half,” said Capt. Scott Douglas. With the Oklahoma City Fire Department. 

Flooding and high-water levels created a dangerous situation for Oklahomans out and about. 

“You know when we have that amount of water that fast, we are fully expecting to have some water rescues. With as much rain and it rises very quickly,” said Douglas. 

The Oklahoma City Fire Department dispatched their Dive Team to several flooded cars and a few drownings. 

“We did respond to some people that were drowning in a river. We assisted another department with that. Our dive team responds to all the lakes, rivers, cars in water, possible drowning,” he said. 

Continuous training allows the Dive Team and swift water techs to be ready for any situation. 

“Our Dive Team is actively training all the time. Whether it be knowing where the launch pads are in the lake, where the best access is with rivers. We need to know where all the access points are,” said Douglas. 

With lake levels high due to heavy rain OKCFD is asking Oklahomans to be on high alert.  

“The lake water is going to be murkier now with all the rain we’ve had coming in so if you’re making it out to the lake take someone with you and don’t swim while you are intoxicated,” he said. 

OKCFD always has 43 Dive Team members working per shift.