WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) - The Watertown Fire Department has a new rescue boat.

“We needed something that was going to be an all-aspects type of rescue boat for us. This is what we decided to go with. I feel safe in it, I went over the dam with it,” said Captain Andrew Naklick.

The department uses the boat at all times of the year for rescues out of the Black River, which runs through the city. The new boat allows the department to swap out an older one.

Dams on the river are also known to many first responders as drowning machines, as they create incredibly dangerous water conditions once you get up close - the type of conditions that the new boat was built for.

“The bollards on top here, they prevent the boat from tipping over side to side. So it’s essentially a self-righting boat.

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