Editor’s note: Officials say the search is now a recovery operation. You can read an updated article here.
Rescue crews say they are searching for an off-duty Los Angeles Fire Department firefighter who went missing last night while diving with friends in the Long Beach Port.
The diver, who was reportedly with a group fishing for lobster, was reported missing at 9:45 p.m. Wednesday. He was last seen near Pier J and 1600 S. Harbor Scenic Way.
LBFD spokesman Brian Fisk told CBS2 that the man had been freediving in an area of water that’s about 30 to 40 feet deep. The missing diver is in his late 20s, according to authorities.
Search operations began around 10 p.m. Wednesday and have continued into Thursday, said LBFD spokesman Jake Heflin. Footage from NBC4 showed lifeguard rescue boats patrolling the water near the Long Beach Harbor early Thursday morning and additional divers joined the search around 4:30 a.m.
“This is a thorough search, this is an ongoing search,” Heflin said, adding that at any given time there are 24 divers conducting search operations.
Authorities are searching using a grid method with the help of technology including drones and underground sonar, Heflin said.
Crews from the U.S. Coast Guard, LAFD, Long Beach police, L.A. County Fire and L.A. Port police are all helping with the search, according to the LBFD.
“These resources would be brought to bear to anybody that was reported missing,” Heflin said.
LAFD spokeman Adam VanGerpen said the county’s Peer Support Program has provided clinicians and therapy dogs to firefighters at the search scene.
“This is hitting the fire family very hard,” VanGerpen said.
City News Service, Jeremiah Dobruck and Jacob Sisneros contributed to this report.