Johns Creek acquires new rescue boat

The Johns Creek Fire Department has acquired a new custom-built rescue/recovery boat designed to speed rescue efforts for those who get into trouble on the Chattahoochee River.

Fire Chief Jeff Hogan said the new boat will be a better fit for the city's Swift Water Rescue Unit. It has a 4-inch draft, enabling it to cruise over shoals that ground other boats. The craft also has a 200-horsepower jet drive motor (five times more powerful than its old boat, special fog-penetrating lights, and advanced sonar. It has a tighter turning radius enabling it to get to sports other watercraft can't reach, and can accommodate 1,200 pounds of cargo, much more than the old boat's limit of 800 pounds of people and gear.

Hogan said the new boat was needed, as the city has about 13 miles of riverfront on the Chattahoochee and responds to dozens of water emergencies a year. It'll be utilized by the department's Swift Water Rescue Unit. Nearly 50 of the department's 86 firefighters have gone through the required training.