TAFTON, Pa. — Rundown and old, are the two words Tafton Fire Company Dive Team Captain Charles Simone uses to describe the department's 23-year-old dive boat that serves the Lake Wallenpaupack Community. They are the only fireboat in Pike County.
"The boat is at the end of its life there is no way we can keep it going. We have to replace it. It's done its job for the department. It's done it well, but it's time for us to look forward to a new boat," said Simone.
He says last year, repairs on the pontoon consumed 90 percent of the dive team's budget.
They're hopeful a new boat will not only help save the department money on repairs and increase response times but it would also be used by firefighters.
"It would give us a more modern means of being able to assist the people on the lake and along the shorelines. We cover sometimes it's medical emergencies, sometimes it's a boat fire, or just someone in distress because the motor stopped," said Chief Michael Miller, with the Tafton Fire Company.
While the main boating season hasn't even started yet, Tafton Fire Company and dive team have already responded to three water rescues this year. That's why the need for a new boat is so important.
"We're looking to get a boat that's considered an apparatus, that can do multiple things. Not just be a dive boat, but it could be a fire apparatus. So a new boat would have a bigger pump, will be able to put boat fires out from a distance, we will be able to provide water supply for to the local department," Simone said.
Thanks to a $20,000 donation from Brookfield Renewable U.S. which is the owner and operator of Lake Wallenpaupack and Dam, the first responders have a nice chunk of change to get started.
But they still have a long way to go, to get the boat they want.
That's why the fire company and dive team are asking for community help.
"We're a volunteer company and we go off public donations so trying to help us, get better equipment to help them," said Miller.
The hope is that this is one of the last years the first responders have to use this boat.
If you would like to donate towards a new rescue boat for the Tafton Fire Company Dive Team, click here.