OKALOOSA ISLAND — Beach visitors now have lifeguard protection for an additional two hours a day.
The new schedule, which keeps lifeguards on the beach from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., kicked off over the Fourth of July weekend.
The extended coverage was prompted by a recent increase in evening water rescues and an after-hours drowning in June.
“That really kind of brought it to the surface,” Okaloosa County Public Safety Director Dino Villani said. “We found we have a gap, and the gap seemed to be between 6 and 8 p.m.”
The evening hours are critical because more tourists are on the beach and staying there well past dinnertime.
“We’re dealing with greater numbers of people staying on the beach,” said Tracey Vause, the county’s beach safety director. “One of the problems that we had was we were having to leave rip currents unattended. We knew that was a disaster in the making.”
Prior to July 4, lifeguards lowered the beach flags when they left for the day. Visitors just arriving wouldn’t be aware of the surf conditions, Vause said.
That left the Okaloosa Island Fire Department to respond to more and more water rescues.
Vause said about a half dozen firefighters are “competent watermen,” but the situation strained the department.
“It’s not the best solution to have firefighters in the water making water rescues, no more so than it would be to have lifeguards on fire engines putting out fires,” he said.
Vause said he and Okaloosa Island Fire Chief Bob Tilley were on the verge of starting a class to give the firefighters more water rescue skills when the county approved the longer hours.
“Fortunately, a better alternative arose,” Vause said.
County commissioners on Tuesday approved an additional $19,000 in bed tax money to pay for the extended hours and $6,000 to pay for an all-terrain vehicle for a mobile lifeguard.
“It’s extremely cost-effective during what is a more vulnerable time period,” Villani said. “If we were going to beef up anything, that would be the spot.”
Contact Daily News Staff Writer Kari Barlow at 850-315-4438 or kbarlow@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @KariBnwfdn.
