Water Rescue & Safety

The Porter Fire Dive Rescue Division was created to help better serve our community regarding any water related emergency. Our team operates with 8 divers and the rest of the fire department personnel trained as support for water operations. Our primary mission is the rescue and/or recovery of people and property involved in water related incidents. The Porter Fire Department covers a significant portion of the Lake Michigan shoreline. While our primary response area of Lake Michigan is Porter Beach, Dune Acres and Indiana Dunes State Park, we also assist the neighboring lakefront of Gary, Portage, and Michigan City. Our response extends to a variety of water environments, such as ponds, lakes, rivers, and even high water drainage ditches.

Our fire department success relies on a great deal of training and special equipment. Divers enter the water wearing full face masks with communication, a buoyancy compensator with weights and air tank, a hazmat dry suit, back-up breathing system, and fins. This gear can weigh upwards of 100lbs in total. We utilize a 14ft long inflatable rescue boat to tow divers underwater while searching, as well as transport the divers and any potential victims from an emergency. Our members continually train and advance their skills with certifications in Open Water, Advanced Open Water, Emergency Response Diving, River Diver, Nitrox, Rescue Diver, Ice Diver and even more specialties. We strive for excellence in this field of operation so we can be at our best when called to the worst water emergencies.

Dive Truck Dive Rescue