Connecticut River Adds To Amount Of Services Needed By Rocky Hill Police and Fire

A 9-1-1 call came into Rocky Hill dispatch Sunday night at 11 p.m. that there might have been a Jet Ski accident near the Rocky Hill boat launch and ferry landing.

The Rocky Hill Police Dept. responded quickly to the shores of the Connecticut River as did the Rocky Hill Fire and Rescue.

The Rocky Hill fire boat launched from its slip at the Public Safety dock and found the owner of the jet ski aboard a boat and the jet ski tied by rope to the boat. Nobody was injured. Fire and Rescue helped the boat and the Jet Ski get to the shore. But once there, the owner of the Jet Ski was issued a citation for not having an operating permit. 

"River and water rescue is part of the Fire Dept. right now," Rocky Hill Lieutenant Brian Klett said. "We had money in our budget last year to have our police boat docked in the water. Right now our police boat is on a trailer and parked in the parking lot. But if we had an emergency that we needed our boat and the fire boat at the same time, we could have our boat in the water in 15 minutes."

Rocky Hill Fire Chief Mike Garrahy said that the water rescues add another layer to the services offered by the fire department.

"We have people trained in water rescue in each fire house," Garrahy said. "There are also a lot of shore duties that go along with water rescues. All of these firemen go through a training program and the boat operators all have to have a DEEP operator's license. We offer classes and we are lucky to have some boaters in the department."

Garrahy said that unlike some fire boats, the Rocky Hill fire boats respond to incidents and do not patrol.

"The only time we do patrols are when there are special events and when we are asked by neighboring towns," Garrahy said. "Like when Wethersfield had fireworks a few years ago we patrolled. Sometimes there are dragon races or crew races that come this way, so we keep an eye out for that. We are in contact with towns like Cromwell and Portland and Glastonbury all the time. 

"The Connecticut River is a big part of Rocky Hill and it is our responsibility to make those waters as safe as possible. It is a service that we provide that sometimes residents of Rocky Hill don't even know we have."