"Brrrr, that water's cold!"

This is the phrase you probably would have heard if you had been at Barr Lake recently. Then you might have wondered what anyone in their right mind would be doing in freezing lake water in the middle of February.

Well, lets just clarify, it's firefighters we're talking about and they are not in their right minds. Let's face it; anybody who chooses to run into a burning building while everyone else is running out must definitely be crazy. But crazy or not, we need them. And we need them to be well trained in order to help us when we need them. That is the reason they were in the freezing lake water in the middle of February. They were doing their annual ice rescue training so that if the call comes out and someone has fallen through the ice, they are prepared to get them out.

Greater Brighton Fire began doing this yearly training in 2004 after we received a grant to purchase the required gear. We have also recently received a grant for $60,000, which will allow us to be even more prepared for any type of water rescue.

The fact that lakes and rives are only iced over for a few months out of the year makes this once a year training even more valuable. It's not a skill that can be practiced once a month like so many other things our firefighters train for.

Hopefully, nobody will need the help of our well trained firefighters to get out of a freezing lake, but if you do, you can rest assured that they'll be ready for the challenge.