LORAIN — Lorain firefighters under the direction of Capt. Tom Baker, the Fire Department’s safety training officer, got out on the Black River for cold water rescue training this morning.

The Fire Department got cold-water immersion suits, which cost about $2,000 apiece, a year ago. The suits are one-piece and one-size-fits-all, with the exception of the helmet.

Without the suits, firefighters were limited to throwing a rope to someone who had fallen through the ice, but with the suits they can aggressively go in the water after a person.

It takes each firefighter about 10 minutes to suit up, and today’s training in the near-freezing water — which included five firefighters and Baker — lasted about an hour and a half.

Photos by Amherst Junior High student Evann Figueroa under the guidance of Chronicle Photo Chief Bruce Bishop: