Last Sunday, a very special exchange took place between our company and the Westhoek fire brigade. Their request was to share our experiences about diving in locks. West Flanders and the Westhoek are home to some beautiful historic locks. And with clock-like regularity, the fire brigade conducts diving operations there. They regularly search for dumped cars but also sometimes for victims and sometimes at night.
The firefighters are well-trained divers but are not specifically trained to dive in locks and other engineering structures such as dams or bypass sewers. And for that, they came to us. Our divers work in locks almost every day and know the risks and how to deal with them.
At 08.30hr, sunday morning, our expert Martin Van Dromme was at the fire station in Ypres. Quite surprised, he noted that as many as 25 firefighters were ready to attend the class.
For 3 hours, experiences and knowledge were exchanged with great enthusiasm. Martin had bundled his more than 25 years of experience in a presentation he used as a guide. It was very encouraging how everyone stayed focused the whole time. This exchange was also enriching for our company. We now know much better where the fire divers go and how we can assist.
After the theoretical exchange, a practical exercise took place at the Boezinge-Sas lock. Despite the cold and the rain, the fire service divers went straight to work and into the water!
Tastes like more!
