The Durango Fire & Rescue Authority houses the only hazardous materials technician response team in the five-county, two-tribe Colorado Southwest Homeland Security Region. The Haz Mat Team is made up of Technicians from Durango Fire and Rescue Authority (12), Colorado State Patrol (2) and Pagosa Springs Fire Protection District (2). The team has worked to co-found the Colorado Western Slope Hazardous Materials Consortium which is working towards common protocols, interoperable response equipment, and a Mutual Aid Agreement for all Western Slope response teams. The Consortium organizes one full-scale Haz Mat exercise annually.
The Haz Mat team members provide awareness and operations level response training to any requesting emergency response organization in the region through the support of the Colorado Division of Fire Safety Hazardous Materials Training program. The technician team members from the Colorado State Patrol provide Motor Carrier Safety Enforcement in addition to responding with the team.
The team is in the process of working with neighboring Montezuma County Fire Chiefs and Los Pinos Fire Protection District (Southern Ute Indian Tribe) to provide Operations level hazardous materials response capability in the more remote locations of this region. The process is on-going and at present time, both satellite groups have decontamination and defensive control capability to support the Haz Mat Team response.
Training Chief Mark Quick, Haz Mat Team Leader
The DFRA Technical Response Team was formally organized in 2003 to help meet the many diverse technical rescue challenges in our service area and the surrounding region.
These include industrial sites, vertical cliffs, steep embankments, gorges and swiftwater challenges. We work closely with several mutual aid agencies within the region to ensure a seamless structured response as it pertains to technical rescue.
To be a part of this specialized team requires a significant commitment of time in initial and ongoing training to ensure a competent safe response from our members.
Our overriding goal for the DFRA Technical Response Team is to provide our community with safe, timely, and efficient technical rescue solutions that are both gentle on the patient and the rescuers.
EMS Captain Leo Lloyd, RN/Paramedic - Team Coordinator
Durango Fire and Rescue Authority’s Tactical Medic program consists of four full-time career medics, with a minimum of one per shift.
All tactical duties are in addition to the medic’s daily job functions.
The Tactical Medic program offers specially trained Medics to local Law Enforcement agencies with tactical operations.
The Team has been contracted with The Durango Police Department since its formation in 1997.
Once selected, our “TAC” Medics undertake specialized training in order to provide emergency medicine in an ever changing, challenging, and austere environment.
Our training encompasses a 40 hour entry level tactical course, ongoing monthly training, and various conferences on this specialty.
In addition to the trainings, all members work in conjunction with one another to advance the team in new techniques, equipment, and tactics.
Swift water rescue is a subset of technical rescue that involves the use of specially trained personal, ropes, mechanical advantage systems and river rafting equipment.
The training is especially useful in that there is several commercially and privately run sections of white water, including class V, in DFRA's district. DFRA maintains swift water rescue techs, rescue swimmers and commercial river guides on staff.
DFRA maintains equipment necessary to perform swift water rescue.
DFRA personal trained in swift water rescue are available to assist search and rescue if requested.
Engineer Dana Scalf, Team Leader
