How Naperville water team leader coordinated two rescues in one day
The rescues of two boaters stranded in the West Branch of the DuPage River in Naperville after one of May's many rainy days began long before the men got into the water.
Conditions that made the saves possible began 17 years ago, when firefighter/paramedic Chuck Gros became assistant coordinator of the Naperville Fire Department's water rescue team. That's when Gros started inviting experts to teach swift water rescue techniques so firefighters wouldn't inadvertently hurt anyone when river levels rose and people needed help.
Gros, now a 20-year department veteran with seven years as the water rescue coordinator, became so adept that he and one other department member now conduct trainings and have certified 40 firefighters in swift water rescue, including 28 as divers.
So when May 15 rolled around, the department was prepared.
The day began with training after a round of drenching storms. Gros said it seemed like the perfect time to take the team to the river, send some members in and have others practice rescuing them by throwing them a rope and hooking a line.
“It worked out very well for us,” he said.
So did the rest of the day, when rescue swimmers put their newly refined skills into action, twice.
After returning to the station, Gros took a call from the Naperville Park District police asking for help removing a kayak stuck under the Washington Street Bridge, “the lowest bridge in town.” The owner was safe and out of the river, but the boat was trapped.
Gros told the park police he was on it. No sooner did he find the kayak, the first emergency call came through at 4:05 p.m. Downstream, near Meoldy Lane south of downtown, there was a report of a man in the river, screaming for help, trying to corral three boats.
Gros dispersed the team to bridges downstream, where they could set up to throw the man a line and help him out.
It worked. The man, not wearing a life jacket, was safely out of the water, when up walked the two other men he had been paddling with, also not wearing life jackets.
“They didn't realize the speed of the water or the power of the water until were in,” Gros said.
So Gros and his colleagues gave them some “re-education” about the importance of water safety and life vest use.
“We say, 'Listen, it only takes a second for you to flip out of the boat. You don't have time to put that vest on,'” he said. “If you have it, you should wear it.”
Removal of the kayak under Washington Street resumed after the three boaters were safe. Crews hooked it and dislodged it from the bridge, then Gros sent a rescue swimmer to grab it and return it to shore.
Firefighters were talking with the boat's owners when two more kayakers approached about 4:40 p.m. The first paddled past, wearing a life jacket. The second, shirtless and without a life vest, followed.
“We were like, 'You need to move out of the water,'” Gros said. “He tried to get to the side, then flipped out of his boat. Luckily, we were right there.”
Rescue swimmer Ryan Cowhey jumped in and held up the man while they floated downstream. Other water rescue team members ran down along the Riverwalk, threw Cowhey a rope, then pulled him and the kayaker to shore.
Gros ran further downstream, jumped in and grabbed the man's kayak before it, too, could become stranded.
Gros, a longtime SCUBA diver and a Naperville native, said his role isn't always to jump in anymore.
“We have strong and talented guys and women as swimmers,” he said. “It's rewarding and fulfilling being able to instruct and help educate and lead them in the right direction.”