REEDSVILLE — The Preston Dive team — which is now comprised of 14 certified divers — began as a team of two, who founded the group in the early 1990s after a day of sitting on the sidelines.
“Years ago, we were called to a drowning and we had to wait several hours for divers from Camp Dawson to come to the scene,” Scott Spiker said. “So we (Spiker and James Darlington) started diving together. Shaun Carico taught us how to dive and he certified us in 1994.”
“We survived on our own with very little help,” Darlington said. “We bought all of our own stuff.”
Spiker’s and Darlington’s first diving equipment came from an ad in The Bulletin Board. Spiker said they went to Uniontown to pick it up.
These days, the team is often called to help with drownings, water rescue and to recover evidence that has been disposed of in either a river, lake or pond. They have been called in by Preston and other West Virginia counties, as well as Pennsylvania. Last year, they were called out 10 times.
“The dive team has worked with us in the past several times,” Preston Sheriff Paul Pritt said. “They’ve helped us find evidence that’s been thrown in rivers, ponds, anything where it’s too deep for us to walk out and retrieve it.”
Pritt said when they are called in to help the sheriff’s department, members of the team have been helpful and professional.
“They are a very useful tool to use, especially in our business,” he said. “We’re thankful they’ve been available to us. They’ve gone out of their way to help us.”
Commission President Don Smith agreed.
“I think they (dive team) provide a very necessary service,” Smith said. “What they do is not easy. I had a friend who was a diver. When you find a body, you feel good – but you feel bad, too. It’s very stressful trying to rescue someone or find a body. Often, you are going into a very dangerous situation.”
“Every dive is different,” Darlington said. “You never know what the water will be like. We’ve retrieved guns, knives, watches, cars, wedding rings and bodies — every place you go and every dive you are on is different.”
Mike Riley said sometimes a dive can be dangerous for the diver.
“In some spots on the (Cheat) river, there is a lot of trees and wire,” Riley said. “There are times you’re looking for something and you can’t see your hands in front of your face. If your gear is damaged on a dive, you have to pay for new equipment.”
Lambert said on a recent dive, his BCD (Buoyancy Compensator Device) vest was damaged.
“If the company I bought it from hadn’t agreed to replace, it it would have cost me $600 for a new one,” he said. “I couldn’t dive without it.”
The Preston Dive Team buys all of their own equipment and pays for their training out of pocket. They receive no funding from any county, state or federal entity.
“We buy all of our stuff. It costs $4,250 to equip one person,” Shaun Lambert said. “Training to go to all six levels costs $2,225.”
Gear like their trailer, boat, boat motor, aqua com, 2 AQ mask, dacor lift bag (an air-tight bag with straps, which is used to lift heavy objects underwater), sealife camera and Atlantis video system cost an additional $15,325.
For insurance purposes, the members of the diving team also have to be members of either a Volunteer Fire Department or an EMS.
Members of the dive team come from VFDs in Reedsville, Albright, Tunnelton, Rowlesburg, Masontown and Kingwood.
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