A three year restoration project on Onondaga Lake is in it's final stretch. Once completed, many people are expected along the trails and doing other activities around the lake. Reporter Alexa Green explains, emergency officials said they're now prepared for crowds thanks to a recent donation.
ONONDAGA COUNTY N.Y-- For the Solvay Fire Department, in year's past, there haven't been too many water rescues at Onondaga Lake. If an emergency did occur, Solvay's fire chief says they relied on other department's for assistance.
"We work with a few other departments in the county as far as water rescue goes. Right now they've got kayakers, snf boaters. There's not a whole lot of that going on right now. Obviously as the weather breaks, it will get better and be a lot more popular," said Solvay Fire Department Chief Tom Spaeth.
While many are looking forward to bigger crowds, Chief Speath said along with that, comes more accidents. That's why a recent donation by Honeywell for more than $5,000 worth of equipment will be beneficial.
"We're going to need in the future actually more than we need it now because at the lake becomes more popular, as it gets cleaner, you're going to have that many more people," said Spaeth.
With more people walking or biking on the trails, and boating or kayaking on the water, fire officials said they need to be prepared, more than ever.
"The challenging part of it is you have to get out into an unknown area. You don't know how deep it is, what's underneath that, you're stepping in kind of muck. That's the more challenging part of it," said Solvay Fire Department President John Fall Sr.
The change that many say they are looking forward to.
"We used to have the Regatta here. Maybe we can bring that back. It's something that could be reinvented here again, which was a great draw for Onondaga County and the community," said Fall.
Lakeside Fire department also received more than $4,000 worth of water equipment. The entire restoration project is set be completed next year.