BATON ROUGE - Getting caught in a South Louisiana downpour could be a situation that spins out of control to a high-water rescue situation, or an accident that could land a vehicle in a bayou.

That is why the Special Operations Division of the St. George Fire Department is getting rapid diver training. Today was the final exercise for the program.

This training gives firefighters the expertise to take action within minutes of arrival as the sheriff's office dive team gets mobilized.

"Obviously, in South Louisiana, we are not strangers to water everywhere we go," Chief of Special Operations Russell Shoultz said. "We've had incidents in the past where we've had people in the water where we've had a challenge to immediately try to effect a rescue, so this provides the entire community with a resource that we can immediately get there and try to effect a rescue."