The Saratoga Springs Fire Department is seeking donations in order to purchase a rescue boat.

Currently, water rescue on the north and west sides of the lake fall primarily to the Saratoga Springs department.

Hay said with a shallow boat, motor, trailer and some safety equipment, the department is looking at about $12,000. Unfortunately, Saratoga Springs is facing very tight budgets this year.

So instead of waiting, the Saratoga Springs Fire Department is looking for donations to buy a boat. Hay said they would appreciate donations from businesses, organizations, or even private citizens.

"Donations can be mailed to the fire station or here [the city offices]," he said. "Anyway someone wants to do it, we can work with them."

Donations can be made to the City of Saratoga Springs in care of the Rescue Boat Donation Fund. The city office address is 1307 North Commerce, Saratoga Springs, 84045. Any questions can be directed to Chief Tim Hay at 801-766-5603 or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

"We appreciate your life saving investment," said Hay. "We appreciate any assistance we can get."

The County [Search and Rescue] comes out of Provo Harbor. With three marinas in Saratoga Springs, the city needs something on this side of the lake to support county search and rescue.

"We have duck hunters, boaters, fishermen, swimmers. We want to have something in place that we can go out and do quick rescues if needed," he said. "Just this year we have had several calls from duck hunters who have been in trouble and jet skis that have collided. We had parasailers go down into the water. A couple of people were hypothermic."

Hay says that they do have a couple of jet skis on loan from Utah County, however they can only be used a few months of the year. The rest of the time rescue crews have to either wade in from the shoreline, or wait. This can be challenging enough during the summer time.

"Recently, we had two kids, lost their jet skis in the water, and they were hypothermic and taken into the hospital," said Hay. "They had to wait for rescue from Provo. Not only the time for crews to get to the harbor, but lake conditions that day were terrible. "