The Dive Team was formed over twenty-five years ago comprising of firefighters from various departments in the county. We currently cover Onondaga county which is in the center of New York State, 793.5 square miles, approx. 35 miles in length, 30 miles in width and has a population of 458,336 per the 2000 US Census. We also provide mutual aid response to adjacent counties when requested. The county has six large lakes, several smaller park lakes (Green Lakes and Minoa Lake), rivers, quarries and ponds. We average five calls per year ranging from drowning to recovery of lost items.

Prior to 1974, Jim Ridgeway and Don Wood and a small group of firefighters from Brewerton, Skaneateles, and South Bay recognized a need to develop and organize a county team to provide local fire departments in the county, who may not have divers of their own with additional resources (divers and equipment) during emergencies.

Prior to 1970, initial meetings were held at Brewerton and Lakeside Fire Departments to discuss and develop a plan to organize a county team.

The first organizational meeting and the elections of officers were held at Liverpool Fire Department on January 13, 1974.

• President - Richard Brown

• Vice President - Don Wood

• Treasurer - Ed Simanowski

• Secretary - Ed Bettis
• Historian – Jim Ridgeway

Charter Members are:

• Edward Bettis (Skaneateles Fire Department)
• Carl Wellman (Skaneateles Fire Department)
• Eli Bickom (South Bay Fire Department)
• Edward Atkins (South Bay Fire Department)
• Jim Ridgeway (Brewerton Fire Department)
• Edward Simanowski (Brewerton Fire Department)
• John McLaughlin (Brewerton Fire Department)
• Don Wood (Lakeside Fire Department)

One of the most significant events that developed after the formation of the dive team was that there were two types of rescue divers. One type of diver that dove in rivers, generally less than 20 feet in depth with low visibility and debris and the other type that dove in lakes with maximum depths of 80 feet and good visibility. This presented as the first training class, to teach each other new diving techniques and provide the foundation of today’s excellent safety and training classes. Which is held each month during our training meetings.

Special recognition is given to Jim Ridgeway for inventing the ‘Search Bar’ which allows up to five divers to hold on to it. This is pulled by a power boat and a rapid and thorough search can be completed covering a extensive search area.

Today, we have 55 active divers ranging from basic to advance scuba diving with specialties in Boat Diver Operations, Deep Diving, Night Diving, Search and Recovery, Equipment Specialties, Wreck Diving, Multilevel, Underwater Navigation, Dry Suit Operations, Drift Diving, Enriched Air Diving (NITROX), Peak Performance Buoyancy, Ice Rescue, Dive Rescue, Swift River Rescue.

We also work very closely with the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Department and have affiliations with the State Police and Seneca County Sheriff’s Department.