Chesterfield Fire Department
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Technical Rescue

Special Response Teams

Trench, confined space, collapse, high angle and machine rescue, with members on the Macomb County Technical Rescue Team and Michigan Task Force One.

About the Technical Rescue

The department's Special Response Teams receive specialized training in trench rescue, confined space rescue, building collapse, high angle rescue, HAZMAT response, urban search and rescue, and heavy equipment extrication. These teams handle natural and man-made disasters at the local, county and state levels, train continuously and must be ready to deploy with minimal notice.

Multiple members serve on the Macomb County Technical Rescue Team, holding technician level or higher in several rescue disciplines. They handle smaller emergencies and start county team responses early, and many of the department's firefighters are also members of Michigan Task Force One, which deploys to the most extreme events in the state and occasionally across the country.

All department members are proficient in vehicle extrication and stabilization. For anything beyond a low-risk technical rescue, the Macomb County Technical Rescue Team is requested so the response can scale to whatever level is needed.

Utility 3 tows the special response trailer and carries the team's rope rescue bags, tools for machine and industrial rescue, patient packaging equipment and medical supplies. Hydraulic rescue tools, the ram, cutters and spreaders, are carried on both Engine 1 and Engine 3.

Responsibilities

  • Trench, confined space, building collapse and high angle rescue
  • Urban search and rescue
  • Heavy equipment, machine and vehicle extrication
  • Respond as part of the Macomb County Technical Rescue Team
  • Support Michigan Task Force One deployments

Strategic Plan: Technical Rescue Response Model

The 2025-2030 Strategic Plan commits the department to a technical rescue response model written by its own experts. It sets the level of training for every member in confined space and rope rescue, trench rescue, vehicle extrication, and machine and elevator rescue, with periodic skills evaluations and equipment lists for each discipline.

Technical Rescue

Facts and Figures

Technical Rescue: Effective Response Force by Risk Level (CRA/SOC)
DisciplineLow RiskMedium RiskHigh Risk
Trench Collapse72643
Machine Rescue6814
Vehicle Extrication4812
Rope Rescue71217
Confined Space Rescue71216
Structural Collapse72438
In Pictures

Technical Rescue Gallery

A rescuer rigging a tripod and rope system during confined space trainingA rescuer lowered into a confined space during trainingRescuers preparing rope systems for a confined space entryCrews stabilizing a heavy load with rescue struts and cribbingFirefighters working beneath a stabilized load during heavy rescue trainingFirefighters working an overturned vehicleA rescuer lowering a patient in a basket stretcher down a wallA basket stretcher raised from Truck 3's aerial during rope rescue trainingTechnical rescue crews working in a trench with shoring and a ladderRescuers at a building collapse training siteRescuers placing shoring at a building collapse training siteRescuers building cribbing during collapse trainingCutting timber for shoring during collapse trainingCrews and cribbing at a building collapse training site
Video

Watch

Firefighter Friday: Utility 3 and the Special Response TrailerBattalion Chief Gordon Tuzinsky walks through Utility 3, which tows the special response trailer and carries rope rescue, machine rescue, patient packaging and medical equipment.
Firefighter Friday: Extrication Tools with “Joe Squared”Firefighters Joe Lozowski and Joe Marrosu show the ram, cutters and spreaders used to free people trapped in vehicles and machinery, carried on Engine 1 and Engine 3.

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