MIDDLETOWN, Conn. — Eight feet below the surface, a group of Middletown Firefighters are getting their hands dirty – and everything else.
Each year members of the fire department’s Technical Rescue Team spend most of the week learning the skills of Trench Rescue Training.
“There aren’t a lot of departments in the state of Connecticut that do trench rescue training,” said Middletown assistant chief Jay Woron, “So, annually, we do a trench refresher.”
Woron noted that high angle rope rescue training and trench training are among the most challenging disciplines to take part in. “It’s one of the most dangerous things we do,” said Woron, “because we are working in a line trench and a line trench wants to collapse.”
Middletown Fire Lt. Nick Mayo, who helps train fellow firefighters in the trenches said, “we have been called to trench rescues before,” and then added, “they (the firefighters) need to be on top of their game so that’s why every year we do this training.”
Woron mentioned that fire departments like New Haven, Naugatuck, Enfield, and Waterbury also take trench training courses.
