Page 64 - Walton Living

Firefighters training for the special ops team note that they have other counties.”
many more team members than would likely be necessary for any The Special ps team was given an equipment trailer by the
one specific incident so that there should be enough on duty to Walton County Emergency Management Agency and it has been
respond when needed. equipped with dive and other special ops equipment. Moore said
“If only half of us were to show up we would have more than they the department also will be getting a boat that will be housed at the
need,” said firefighter Jean Paul Swilley.”They over sta us so that no reservoir.
matter when or where we would have enough to respond.” “We want to put a covered building on the reservoir where the
The team also is training with surrounding counties so that if they boat can be lowered and take o at any time it is needed,” Moore
are called on to work in conjunction with other special ops teams said, adding the boat would be a joint venture with Precision Plan-
they are already familiar with those who will become team mates for ning as well as the Water Authority. “They will also be utilizing the
any particular incident. boat to do water checks etc. so it will be a joint venture all the way
“Besides the reservoir, we also share Lake arner with Covington around.”
and we also have the rock quarry, so we have several bodies of water He said there are plans to build a fire station at the Hard Labor
already in the county,” Swilley said. Creek eservoir at some time in the future.
Moore said that the county did have its own dive team several “Eventually that’s what we want to do, but it may be a couple of
years ago, but it had cost a lot of money to keep up. years o - possibly on the next Special Purpose Local ption Sales
“So we started depending on Gwinnett and ockdale counties, but Tax SPL ST - or it may be sooner than that.”
we are now getting our own team back up,” he said. “We have been Hall said that once the fire station is built, he expects the boat to
doing it independently up until now with just our people, but we will be stored there on a trailer so it ready to be launched whenever and
be doing it in conjunction with ockdale and maybe some of the wherever needed. •WLM

64 Walton Living Magazine