The sirens rang across the Pacific Ocean, catching the attention of nearby surfers waiting for waves, passersby on the pier looking down at the water to watch the action unfold.
Lifeguards dressed in dive gear aboard a rescue boat sprang into action, swiftly jumping into the sea to retrieve the victim from underwater.
While it was a mock rescue that unfolded in Huntington Beach — the “victim” transported to the beach to be helped by paramedics was a mannequin — the display on Wednesday, Oct. 22, showed how training and technology help to keep beachgoers safe.
The display was paired with a press conference announcing a milestone for the busy coastal city to date in 2025: There have been no fatal drownings across city beaches and residential pools for the first time in at least seven years.
Fire Department Chief Eric McCoy said the summer started with a plea to families to take water safety seriously, asking people to use a newly-launched “Water Watcher” program that designates one person to keep an eye on people in their group.
That means no eyes on cell phones, no drinking, no distractions — just watching the water.
“Every year, we’ve had drownings in our city,” McCoy said. “This year, the community heard our pleas and we all pulled together. … That success comes from prevention — the Water Watcher program, the fast response of our emergency responders and people in our community taking responsibility for safety at home and at the beach.”
The Marine Safety Department released its 2025 end-of-summer statistics, reporting more than 125,000 calls for service between Jan. 1 and Oct. 16.
It was a busier-than-normal summer at the beach, said Marine Safety Division Chief Trevor McDonald, with big swells and strong rip currents coinciding with big crowds. Fourth of July was a particularly busy weekend, with mass rescues as huge rip currents pulled people out to sea.
Typically, the city has about 3,000 to 4,000 rescues in a season.
This summer, there were 4,428 rescues, 84,676 preventative actions, 34,723 enforcement contacts, and 1,807 medical aids along its 8.5 miles of coast.
“Those numbers show how active our beaches are and how committed our crews are in keeping prevention at the forefront,” he said. “Our lifeguards spend just as much time talking to people about rip currents, tides, surf conditions, as they do making rescues. Stopping a problem before it starts is always the goal.”
The dive team is a key part of that response system, he said. The mock rescue mimicked an airplane that crashed into the ocean, training held each year ahead of the Pacific Airshow in the city.
The divers have specialized suits and full masks that allow them to communicate underwater with one another and with crews on the surface.
“Our lifeguards and firefighters train side by side so that every link in the chain of survival is strong,” said McCoy. “When seconds count, our firefighters and paramedics have consistently delivered faster response times to near drownings and medical calls, helping keep the number of fatal drownings at zero this year.”