by John Beasley, Benton County Rescue Squad Unit Director
The Benton County Rescue Squad recently donated a seventeen foot boat to their counterparts in Carroll County. The Benton Co. Rescue Squad had been the recipient of a generous donation of an eighteen foot center console boat from the Henry County Rescue Squad in 2019, so the board of directors of the BCRS decided to pass along the generosity to Carroll Co., since their fleet had grown.
BCRS had 3 seventeen foot boats in inventory that were used to conduct search, rescue and recovery operations on Kentucky Lake and Tennessee River. With the addition of the eighteen foot boat, the BCRS fleet became more versatile in conducting river operations. The center console boat offers a more stable platform to operate from during search and rescue operations including sonar operations, especially during inclement weather and rough water conditions.
“We purchased a new 115 outboard engine from Open Season in Camden for the center console boat that Henry County had donated, so we now have a very reliable boat that we should get years of service from,” according to Captain Dwayne Presson. The seventeen foot boats are very maneuverable and offer a good platform for conducting recovery operations.
Carrol County Rescue Squad Captain Curt Taylor and other members of the squad went to Benton County to pick up the boat Monday. “We are very appreciative of the donation and humbled by the generosity of the Benton County Rescue Squad. We have always had a great working relationship with our brothers and sisters in Benton County, and we support each other often with mutual aid during region call outs. The addition of this boat to our squad will allow us to operate more efficiently when called on. We have the 1000 Acre Recreational Lake in Carroll County and Carroll Lake in McKenzie, in addition to other lakes and rivers in our area. Having two boats in our squad will increase our ability to conduct search and rescue operations,” Taylor said.
The Benton County Rescue Squad is a 501c3 organization in Benton County, TN, formed in 1969, and is staffed by an active membership of 32 dedicated volunteers from the community who continually train to be able to respond to many types of accidents. In addition to motor vehicle extrication, the BCRS provides other vital services to the residents of Benton County including farm rescue, water rescue and recovery, land searches, and trench rescue.
Photo: From left, Benton Co. Squad Captain Dwayne Presson congratulates Carroll Co. Squad Captain Curt Taylor.