Crews take part in water rescue training

Firefighters were out on the Lake of the Ozarks late Thursday morning taking part in a training exercise.

The practice scenario involved saving a man from drowning.

Crews were ordered to the main channel of the lake to save the man.

Sunrise Beach fire chief , Dennis Reilly, played the role of the “victim”.

He was saved by 21-year-old, Matt Jones, who is a 14 month veteran with the department.

Thursday’s exercise marked the first time in Jones was able to participate in water rescue training.

“It was, get in as quickly as possible, get him out of the water as quickly as possible while watching my hazards,” stated Jones.

It took crews 11 minutes from getting dispatched to the point of pulling Reilly into the boat. Chief Reilly says he was pleased with his departments time, but would like to see the it drop.

Reilly says, “If we do it the next time we can probably compress the time that it took to get the victim, which was me, back onto the boat.”

Fire departments around the Lake of the Ozarks and the Missouri Highway State Patrol operate water rescues.