KNOX COUNTY, Tenn. — Beneath the placid reflection at the Augusta Quarry at Fort Dickerson Park, the water is deep. Really deep.
So deep the Knox County Rescue Squad can't dive to the bottom.
So deep one of its members died trying.
For comparison, at its deepest in the area, the Tennessee River runs about 60 feet. Mead's Quarry at Ijams Nature Center goes down 80 feet.
Fort Dickerson is more than double that.
"We've actually catalogued 215-foot depths here," rescue squad deputy chief John Whited said. "This is one of the deeper quarries around. No doubt about it."
The drop-off starts immediately, just feet from the rim. When Whited and the rescue squad respond here, the depth complicates recoveries.
"We interview anyone who saw the drowning and that’s where we get our start and then we use divers and really highly technical pieces of equipment," Whited said.
During the latest search this week, the rescue squad marked a somber milestone: 25 years ago on Monday, diver Corey Berggren died trying to recover a drowning victim's body here.
"To be working an actual drowning at the same quarry on the same day as his anniversary was a bit odd," Whited said Tuesday. "Yesterday we were able to float a wreath in his honor."
A quarter-century later, his rescue squad still responds to calls for more drownings.
A sign at this city of Knoxville park warns "swim at your own risk" at a quarry where depth brings danger to swimmers and the divers trained to rescue them.