The Sidney Dive Team was founded in 1994  after the tragic drowning of a local teen at the Pungo Creek Bridge, near Belhaven.

With a trained and equipped black water diver located less than 300 yards from the incident, it still took more than 30 minutes to alert him—far past the rescue window.

Still shaken by the tragedy, the board of       directors of the Sidney Volunteer Fire            Department gave its support to begin a dive team within their department.

Today, what began as one local diver using only his personal equipment has grown into one of the most highly utilized and well equipped 911 mobile dive teams in North Carolina.

Since 1994, the Sidney Dive Team has          responded to more than 90 missions in 18 North Carolina counties.

The team has built a strong relationship with local rescue and  law enforcement agencies as well as Emergency Management offices and   local military.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sidney Dive Chief “Catfish” Younce (center),  prepares Assistant Dive Chief Steve Swain (left), and Dive Captain Leonard Hudson (right) while in-route to search for a missing fisherman on the Albemarle Sound in Tyrrell County, North Carolina.

Tyrrell County, January 2004