San Juan County made an important investment in 2013 that still saves the lives of people who find themselves in trouble on the water.

“We would always get calls out at Navajo Lake, and the only access to boats we had were either private citizens, or usually we were using park service boats,” Kevin Jones, a division chief with San Juan Fire and Rescue, told KOB 4.

The county acquired a fire rescue boat nine years ago, according to KOB 4. The boat is equipped with features to provide emergency services on the water. It also has the ability to put out fires – maybe not the forest fires that have ravaged much of the state, but fires that occur on boats and other water vessels.

“It has a 1,000-gallon-per-minute pump on it that it’s capable of pumping water, and of course, it just uses the lake water, so [there’s an] endless supply,” Jones said. “So, we can shoot water with the deck gun that’s right here behind me or we can run hoses.” 

The fire and rescue boat is utilized at the state’s second-largest lake, Navajo Lake, where the list of emergencies includes heart attacks, strokes, broken bones, and injuries from people diving off a cliff, KOB 4 reported.

The list of rescues includes “overturned boats, sinking with people on board; we had fires out here, we had houseboats catch on fire,” Jones said.

The fire rescue boat has better access than private boats and is especially beneficial because of the lake’s unique topography.

“A good portion of the lake is not accessible very easily by road or anything like that,” Jones said. “Even sometimes, where people get themselves into trouble, we can’t land a helicopter because the terrain is such where you can’t land a helicopter nearby.”