ORANGE — Jumping out of a plane may sound terrifying to some, but for others it’s a thrill, especially when their landing makes a splash.

The Orange, Turners Falls and Phillipston Fire departments held a joint training session on Friday to practice rescuing Jumptown parachutists from Lake Mattawa.

“It’s essential that skydivers and public safety have an understanding of what each other’s capabilities are and what’s expected in case the unexpected happens,” Orange Fire Lt. Jason Rushford explained. “We don’t have a lot of responses to Jumptown, but these training opportunities give a chance for some cooperation and just working together in case an emergency does happen.”

Jumptown Manager Casey LaRue said the skydiving facility and the Orange Fire Department hold intentional water landing trainings about once a year, depending on schedules and the weather. On Friday morning, they were able to train with three departments and six jumpers who dove out of a plane from 5,000 feet above the lake.

“We do this as a joint effort to make sure that our emergency services are ready in case we wind up over here. We usually try not to land here, but in order to give us some practice, we take some of our licensed jumpers,” LaRue said. “It helps us all stay on the same page on the off chance one of us does end up in the water.”

Rushford added that Orange also likes to invite neighboring departments to participate in the training, so in the event of an emergency, when an Orange crew is unavailable, another department can come to the rescue.

Turners Falls Fire Captain Trisha Dana said this year was the first time her department was invited and she was impressed with how smoothly the training went.

“There was a little bit of an intensity with it, but then as they were coming down, they were so controlled,” Dana said of the parachutists. “They knew what they were doing.”

Landing in water requires a bit more preparation than a regular jump, according to Trevor Stacy, a member of Jumptown. Skydivers need to be aware of the various lines attached to them, including reserve lines, control lines, etc., which enable jumpers to open their parachutes and direct their movements.

When landing in water, parachutists should try to hit the water with their parachute falling in front of them, so “they can kick back and swim right out of it,” Stacy said.

“You have this big 200-square-foot canopy fabric over your head. ... Nylon poses a risk of getting collapsed on top of you and making it hard to get up for air,” added parachutist Ty Rodgers. “There’s a couple of different things we for safety. We have a chest strap that connects our parachute over us, so before we get to the water, we undo the chest strap so we can get out of it easier.”

To earn a Class B skydiving license, skydivers are required to learn how to conduct a water landing and successfully get out of their parachute without panicking. Stacy said these practice jumps typically have them landing in pools with water 5 to 6 feet deep. Friday’s training offered extra practice for already licensed Class B jumpers, with an extra challenge; instead of a pool, they were landing in a roughly 35-foot-deep lake.

For firefighters, the training to rescue the parachutists involved a safety briefing, launching their boats into the water and heading out to the center of the lake to retrieve the jumpers where they land.

“We have a flat-bottom boat that allows us to let this front bench out, so they were able to climb in on their own,” Dana said. “It was just a great day out on the water.”

Parachutists and firefighters came back to shore smiling, and said the training was both a productive practice for emergencies and a fun time.

“It was great,” Rodgers said. “It was the most fun ever.”

Reach Madison Schofield at 413-930-4579 or mschofield@recorder.com.