Why we have deputy mayors

Peter Chirico may not be a boxer, but he certainly knows how to take a dive.

And that’s what North Bay’s deputy mayor did Tuesday afternoon, dawning a neoprene diving suit and allowing himself to be “rescued” by a city firefighter.

The North Bay Fire Department was performing ice rescue certification for its firefighters, and Chirico eased his way into the frigid waters of Trout Lake as part of the exercise.

“As our illustrious mayor says ‘that’s why there are deputy mayors, so we can throw them in the water. They’re expendable,’” Chirico laughed, as he plodded toward a hole in the ice and 20 feet of water.

Childhood dream
Mayor Vic Fedeli and Coun. Dave Mendocino, attired in regulation North Bay Fire Department gear, watched on the sidelines.

Mendicino admitted he’d always had a secret desire to be a firefighter, and welcomed the chance to tag along.

“Now I’ve had the ride in a fire truck, I’ve got fire gear on, and I’m living a childhood dream,” Mendicino said.

On a more serious note, Mendicino, chairman of the Community Services Committee, said the experience gives him the chance to look at the work of the fire department beyond just crunching budget numbers.

“I’ve always had great admiration for the department and I can now see what a lean and mean shop they run over there,” Mendocino said.

Bowl of jelly
But it was Chirico who was looking mean and lean in red as he prepared for the rescue.

His suit had air pumped into it between the neoprene layers to insulate him from the cold.

And as he waited for his rescuer to paddle over Chirico did a few back strokes, looking like Esther Williams in Million Dollar Mermaid.

“It was like being in a bowl of jelly,” Chirico said of bobbing around in the suit.

“I was a little apprehensive at first sitting at the edge of the ice, but once I got in it I felt pretty relaxed and it was like a piece of cake.”

Treacherous for everybody
The rescue went that well too, Fire Chief Ted McCullough said, but they’re normally not that easy in uncontrolled conditions.

Typically they’re not so close to shore, typically it’s probably really crappy ice conditions all the way out to the rescue, or they could be way out in the middle of Lake Nipissing trying to do this under really hostile dark, cold conditions with very poor lighting,” McCullough said.

“So it could be very treacherous for everybody, both the victim and the rescuers.”

Very impressed
Chirico, meanwhile, said he was “very impressed” with the skill of the city’s firefighters.

“They really know what they’re doing, and believe me they’re worth their weight…”