Firefighter drowns in lake at Georgia border

AUGUSTA — Divers have recovered the body of a Georgia firefighter who drowned in a lake that borders that state and South Carolina.

The Augusta Chronicle reported 60-year-old Ralph Jenkins was a lieutenant with the Augusta Fire Department. Game wardens were called to Thurmond Lake on Friday evening after Jenkins went into the water from a boat and did not resurface.

Crews searched for him until late Friday and continued early Saturday. Using sonar, they found his body in 34 feet of water on Saturday morning.

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“On behalf of the entire Augusta firefighting community, I am disheartened to report this crushing loss of one of our own,” Interim Fire Chief Shaw Williams Jr. said. “Lt. Jenkins came from a firefighting family, was known in the department as a person who could be counted on for a good laugh, and served the people of Augusta, Georgia, for 40 years.”

The drowning is under investigation.

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