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WILMINGTON – It may be cold outside, but members of the Wilmington Fire Department Water Rescue Team still suited up in dry suits Tuesday for a training dive in the Cape Fear River.

Firefighter and Water Rescue Team Member Michael Browning said exercises like this prepare him for a real emergency.

"We could have an actual call and you never know," Browning said. "You just have to be ready to respond and prepared to, mentally and physically, do the job."

Browning is one of 25 firefighters who respond to water-related emergencies in Wilmington. Divers make rescues in the Cape Fear River, parts of the Intercoastal Waterway and retention ponds. They also assist with ocean rescues if called upon.

Divers can get a variety of calls.

"Being a capsized boat, somebody falling out of the boat," Capt. Tracy Garner said. "We have a lot of sightings down here. Somebody saw somebody jump in the river."

Down below, Browning said the water is pitch black.

"You can't see anything at all," he said.

The idea is for the divers to get used to swimming in those conditions during training so they don't panic in a real-life situation.

"You're mind is racing, telling you, ‘You need to go, you need to find, you need to search,’" Browning said. "And in those situations, you need to slow down and make sure you're doing a thorough search and doing it safely."

While divers comb the bottom of the river, they can update the crew up top through a special radio.

Browning said running through the drills helps prepare firefighters to save lives on land and in the water.

"You come in every morning knowing that's the reality of the facts that we do, to provide the service to the citizens," he said. "That's our No. 1 goal is: Everybody goes home safe."