Fire Department divers are searching for two people who reportedly fell into the water from a canoe near the dam at Willow Road and Forestway Drive in Northfield [MAP/SAT] on Sunday. Arlington Heights Fire Department sent Squad 443 with divers and a dive master.
UPDATE: Stanton Schuman, age 92. died in the water. His body was recovered after about 5 hours of search in the area of water known as the Skokie Lagoons. Schuman’s son and a dog made it to shore after their canoe tipped, but Schuman’s son reported that his father went underwater and did not resurface from the water. Firefighters reported that bottom of the Skokie Lagoons water was very hazardous to divers with tree branch obstructions and other obstructions.
Fire departments from MABAS Division 3 have sent divers to the scene. Fire departments from MABAS Division 3 include Deerfield-Bannockburn Fire Department, Des Plaines Fire Department, Evanston Fire Department, Glencoe Fire Department, Glenview Fire Department, Highland Park Fire Department, Highwood Fire Department, Lincolnwood Fire Department, Morton Grove Fire Department, Northbrook Fire Department, Niles Fire Department, Northfield Fire Department, North Maine Fire Department, Park Ridge Fire Department, Prospects Heights Fire Department, Skokie Fire Department, Wilmette Fire Department, and Winnetka-Kenilworth
Fire departments from MABAS Division 1 have also sent divers to the scene on a second alarm. Fire departments from MABAS Division 1 include Arlington Heights Fire Department, Des Plaines Fire Department, Elk Grove Village Fire Departrment, Elk Grove Township Fire Department, Hoffman Estates Fire Department, Itasca, Mount Prospect Fire Department, Palatine Fire Department, Palatine Rural Fire Protection District, Rolling Meadows Fire Department, Rosemont Fire Department, Schaumburg Fire Department, Wheeling Fire Department and Wood Dale Fire Department.
MABAS Divisiion 4 sent a Side Scan Sonar Team, which is a team with a device that can show high resolution underwater images by using sound waves to ‘see’ underwater.
MABAS stands for Mutual Aid Box Alarm System, which is a system devised in the late 1960’s to organize the helpful response of neighboring cities and villages to help with fires, incidents or disasters that require extra fire department resources.
See MABAS.org
Example of company that manufactures Side Scan Sonar: JW Fishers