On Thursday June 30th, City of Hudson Firefighters were requested mutual aid with their Dive Team to the Town of Catskill in Greene County.

At approximately 8pm, Hudsons Dive Team responded to the scene at the request of the West Athens Fire Department. West Athens was on scene of a vehicle that had run off the roadway into Green Lake and was submerged. The driver of the vehicle had made it out of the vehicle before it submerged. However, it was unknown if the vehicle had any additional passengers or not.

Under the leadership of Chief James Schermerhorn, dive operations were set up along the shore where the vehicle entered the water. Divers from the City of Hudson as well as the Greene County Sheriffs Office and the Athens Fire Department, entered the water and soon located the vehicle.

The vehicle was located in approximately 16ft of water with near zero visibility. Divers also reported descending below a thermocline and noted a much colder water temperature at the bottom. The vehicle was cleared and additional divers worked to rig the vehicle for removal by a local wrecker company.

The vehicle was successfully removed from the lake by the wrecker company. Units returned to service around 11pm.

Divers and Tenders from the City of Hudson Fire Department, Athens Fire Department, and the Greene County Sheriffs all worked together to safely accomplish the task. This is not the first time the three agencies have worked together, as divers and tenders from each agency attended a Public Safety Dive class together this past May in Hudson.

Multi-agency cooperation is essential these days when manpower and resources can be limited. Members of all three agencies are planning several drills in the upcoming months.