North Metro Fire’s Technical Rescue Team is comprised of 18 firefighters with specialized certifications and training in rescues involving confined spaces, high angle rope systems, structural collapses, water and trenches. Due to the high risk and large number of personnel involved in technical rescue emergencies, training is essential throughout the year. In 2022 alone, members of North Metro’s Technical Rescue Team put in more than 1,156 hours of specialized rescue training.
Much of North Metro’s training is done in conjunction with the North Area Technical Rescue Team (NATRT), consisting of 10 area departments and over 180 technical rescue technicians. Annually, the NATRT has four quarterly trainings and two water rescue trainings. North Metro Fire hosted the NATRT quarterly training on structural collapse at the District’s Training Center in 2022.
North Metro Fire also hosted the North Area Heavy Rescue Academy at its Training Center in 2022, in collaboration with 12 other fire departments. Three of North Metro’s newest Technical Rescue Team members attended the 80-hour technical rescue training and were among 33 firefighters who graduated from the academy as technical rescue technicians.
Many team members acquired additional certifications in 2022, including SPRAT (Society of Professional Rope Access Technicians), Tower Rescue, Swiftwater Rescue Technician I and II, Ice Rescue Technician, and Rigging for Rescue, to name a few. North Metro Fire also hosted a heavy vehicle and trench rescue class for 40 technical rescue technicians from the Front Range region in 2022.
During the course of the year, North Metro’s Technical Rescue Team was called out to multiple calls involving vehicles crashed into structures where the team provided structure stabilization. North Metro Fire also responded as part of the North Area Technical Rescue Team to a difficult trench rescue in Brighton.
