Opp’s Fire and Rescue squad has formed a scuba diving team for its citizens, officials said.

Last weekend, some members of Opp’s fire and rescue squad participated in dive training at Florala’s Lake Jackson.

Opp Fire Chief Cory Spurlin, an advanced certified scuba diver, said divers from his squad were mapping out the lake to become more familiar with its layout. At present, the Opp diving team is surveying the major bodies of water in Covington County.

“First of all, I think the county used to have a scuba diving team,” Spurlin said. “Andalusia police was big into it. Since (former Police Chief) Wilbur (Williams) retired, it kind of disbanded.”

Spurlin said the scuba team’s boat, a rescue one connector, is being housed at the Opp Fire Department. Funding for the boat is from a federal grant through the Department of Homeland Security.

Spurlin said the boat costs between $25,000-$30,000.

“It has a dive platform, and we keep it up and run it,” he said. “We use it when we need it.”

All equipment divers use, including a wet suit, goggles, breathing apparatuses, regulators, buoyancy controllers, ropes and bags, are provided by the divers.

“The city doesn’t have to invest in the equipment,” Spurlin said.

Spurlin said the whole scuba rescue and recovery side of things is new to the department.

“I was approached a while back by EMS because they knew we had some certified divers. This is kind of new to us. We’ve had the boat for a year, and we’ve actually used it a couple of times,” he said. “Our department was involved in three or four recovery efforts in the county, and in Butler County when we had to assist Greenville with a recovery.

“We’re at the beginning stage of getting this team kicked back off,” he said.

A lot of times before the team gets in the water, Spurlin said it will go through a dry run at the department.

The closest diving teams to Covington County are in Houston County and in Okaloosa County, Fla.

“This is just another service we want to try to provide to our citizens,” Spurlin said.