BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Swift water rescue teams with the Bakersfield Fire Department and the Kern County Fire Department, along with Kern County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue Team, will be in place along the Kern River during Independence Day weekend.
The crews will be ready to respond to any emergency in the water. The BFD has three "Type 2" teams on standby, one located at Fire Station 10 at Lake Ming, another at Station 1 in Downtown Bakersfield, and another at Station 15 near the Park at Riverwalk.
BFD Battalion Chief Tim Ortiz said that the department will be fully staffed for the holiday. They have already made four rescues this year and were deployed out of county three times. A firefighter even used a Carlson Board, which resembles a boogie board, to get one person out of a tight area on Fri, June 23.
According to Ortiz, it's not "if" the department will be called to make a rescue again, but when.
"We're going to have personnel that are going to be out there," said Ortiz. "We're expecting to have a rescue this year. Usually, we do. We may have more than one. Hopefully, those will be saves and not fatalities, God willing. We've been really lucky so far this year."
"We have the most dangerous river in the United States and Bakersfield Fire, Kern County Fire, Kern County Search and Rescue conduct more rescues than any place else in the United States," he continued.
Ortiz says that the campgrounds near Lake Ming and Hart Park, along with the Park at Riverwalk, are areas of concern and will have a heightened presence. He recommends everyone find another way to cool off and strongly urges the use of a United States Coast Guard-approved life jacket.
