BY Press of Atlantic City

As colored lights shaded the sheet of snow and ice over his property, Ray Gormley referred to "the magical hour."

He wasn't talking about 60 minutes meted out for martinis, or the first or last moments of the new or old year, but the maximum time a human can survive under water without air. Happy endings to submersions that long are rare - typically, it's more like 10 minutes, according to the U.S. Lifesaving Association. But the association recommends searching a full hour anyway, said spokesman Chris Brewster.

After that, rescue divers know, the rescue turns into a recovery, Gormley explained Thursday night.

"You're dealing in a situation that has no forgiveness," he said.

During 2007, Gormley said, he has noted 14 calls in Barnegat that could have used the help of a dive and rescue team. Starting in January, such a squad will be closer at hand: the recently chartered Barnegat Township Dive Team will serve the community.

During the past 7 years, Gormley has secured financing for all the team's needs through grants and targeted solicitation mailings. Costs included $49,000 for initial equipment purchases, $3,500 to $4,000 to train and outfit one diver - 11 men and a woman, half of whom are police officers or firefighters, have completed scuba certification so far - plus $1,000 or more each year to maintain divers' equipment as well as the squad's ambulance and trio of boats currently parked in Gormley's front yard. The team does not have a headquarters yet.

Gormley said he envisions a simple structure: a $47,000 pole barn that includes offices and a four-bay garage. His goal is to secure donations from multiple local builders.

"That's my next battle," he said. "It's not an easy chore to get something (like this) up and running."

The township has no plans to pick up any part of the tab, but might donate a parcel of land for the building.

Township Committeeman Jeff Melchiondo suggested a plot next to Pinewood Estates Fire Company's station as the logical locale, given the groups' association.

Unlikely pairing

In 2005, the Township Committee rejected Gormley's bid to charter the dive team, as it had before. Melchiondo said officials wanted the team to merge with an existing first-response agency to enable the township's insurance to cover it.

Gormley said he tried unsuccessfully to obtain that association through Barnegat Volunteer Fire Company, where he's in his second decade of fighting fires.

So Gormley put aside the mutually acknowledged, age-old rivalry between that firehouse and the Pinewood Estates company. Gormley elected to merge with Pinewood, which was in need of divers to complement the company's ice rescue team, according to Pinewood Estates Chief Kevin Lanahan.

Ice rescuers' buoyancy suits prevent them from diving deep into the water, Lanahan explained.

Gormley admitted the merger raised a few eyebrows at the Barnegat company's firehouse. He attributed any negativity or skepticism to personality differences or questions about the need for a separate dive team, though he said he had support of acting Chief Kevin Kadlubowski. Kadlubowski did not return calls for comment.

Evidence of usefulness

In August, the Township Committee sanctioned the dive team. Gormley said merging with Pinewood helped, as did witnessing the divers' aid to other agencies. Although unable to respond as an official team, divers have helped as individuals with some calls.

"I think that helped push it through - seeing what we do is a needed service," he said. "It's something we've seen over time. Our communities have doubled, tripled, maybe, and that means more people are on the water."

In addition to pulling people from the water, divers can search for evidence criminals hope will float away, suppress fires on the water and fill in when the Coast Guard would take too long to respond, Gormley said.

"Since Barnegat has a waterfront, it makes sense to have a dive team," said Barnegat Township Administrator David Breeden.

Lanahan stressed the details have not been hashed out, but that the Barnegat dive team will respond to calls in nearby towns, too. Gormley said he plans to send letters alerting Ocean, Long Beach and Stafford townships to the service.

Beach Haven and Barnegat Light Fire companies provide surface water rescue to towns on and opposite Long Beach Island, but the closest dive and rescue team is presently in Tuckerton, according to Beach Haven First Aid Squad Capt. John Hall.

"By the time you call the necessary agency to dispatch a dive team, they're not in close proximity. It takes a little while for them to get here. So usually rescue teams become search teams. So if you had specially trained individuals … in Barnegat, they (could) be there in minutes," Barnegat police Lt. Pat Shaffery said.

Shaffery listed incidents during his tenure that had required rescuers to go into the water: an elderly woman with Alzheimer's who in July drove into the bay and ultimately died of related complications; a drowning five years ago in the pond in the Mirage at Four Seasons development; and multiple rescues of seniors citizens in the bay.

"I've been here 20 years, and there are a handful of times I can remember an incident that would involve having to get into the water, but it only takes one, you know, for a team such as that to be necessary," Shaffery said.

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