Technical Rescue

Technical Rescue Team

Lieutenant Tom Panzica

The Orland Technical Rescue team consists of 24 members with 20 members trained as Technicians in Trench Rescue, Confined Space Rescue, Collapse Rescue, Cell Tower Rescue, Grain Bin Rescue, Heavy Machinery Rescue and Rope Rescue. The other 4 members are on the training roster working towards their deployable technician status. The team has been going through some exciting changes as members retire and new members take their place. Orland Technical Rescue Team is part of the MABAS 19 CART Blue team which consists of 10 other departments rostering over 60 members. As a team, we have to maintain our skills and continuing education to stay proficient in each discipline, not knowing when a specialized emergency will arrive. The team trains twice a month for four hours to assure safety and proficiency.

The Orland Fire Technical Rescue Team faced many challenges in 2020. The team was limited in hands-on training with individuals getting the virus and others being quarantined. The virus had a lot of unknowns, which caused department heads to restrict training. As a team we had to come up with other ways to insure our members could review the skills to practice individually. This wasn’t ideal, but it was all we had - given the fact that specialized emergencies still may occur. I commend every Orland member as they found ways to review and practice the skills of each discipline in-house. When in-person training was given the green light, every member was excited to get back January 8, 2020 Manteno Technical Rescue to work to perfect their skills as a team. The Technical Rescue team faces a challenge every year with CART Central Board having developed a standard training program to assure that all Central Board Technical Rescue Teams stay proficient in all disciplines at the Technician Level. This 4-year training program is based on achieving approximately 25 hours per year of training within each of the 10 disciplines. This is a very difficult challenge considering training for any discipline or department is financially driven. The Office of the State Fire Marshal is changing a lot of their curriculum for the disciplines to keep each certification active. With this change, they are adding continuing education to maintain individual certifications. Research has proven that if a skill is not practiced within a 90-day period, the individual begins to lose proficiency. We as a team have been creative with our training and work with the District to increase our budget to achieve these requirements. As weather becomes more devastating, the greater the need will be for Technical Rescue teams. A well-trained team means a more efficient rapid search and rescue of a victim. The Orland Fire Protection District's Technical Rescue Team and its members continue to be leaders of Technical Rescue throughout the State of Illinois and the Chicagoland area. As a member of the MABAS 19 Cart Blue, consisting of over 60 members and growing, we continue to be the only deployable team in this area. We are dedicated to assuring the skills of our members remain proficient. We also focus on recruiting more members and getting them trained and deployable in a timely manner. As stated, 2020 was challenging as we did set up our Western Shelter for hospitals during the pandemic. The team remained in a state of readiness and is so excited to be able to train in person in 2021.

HazMat

Lt. Jim Mazurkiewicz

The Hazardous Materials Team is responsible for mitigating and stabilizing any hazardous material incident within the fire district's response area. The team has a cache of equipment, including hazardous gas meters, radiation detectors, and railroad tank car leak kits. Our HazMat team is responsible for a large variety of potential issues involving hazardous materials. There are underground pipe lines, industrial chemicals, and radiological medical equipment all within our response area. We also have a large amount of vehicle traffic in the Orland area that has the potential to involve hazardous materials.

The team spent 2020 training for various incidents that may occur within our boundaries. A new recruit class of candidate firefighters were also trained to the Hazardous Materials Operations level during their fire academy. Team training consisted of quarterly drills in which the members would complete various training objectives to meet the Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshal training requirements for the Hazardous Materials Technician certification.

The Orland HazMat team also has several members who are part of the Southwest Hazardous Materials Response Team. The SWHMRT is comprised of members from other area fire departments and is part of the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System. Our members associated with this team can be deployed to assist in mitigating an incident that the SWHMRT may respond to. Members on this team must also complete additional monthly training sessions in conjunction with Orland’s HazMat team required training.

The Orland HazMat team will continue to complete our training sessions so we can be up to date on all the current trends in hazardous materials response. We also have been incorporating various levels of newer technology into our HazMat team during the last year. This new technology will allow us to be increasingly prepared to mitigate any hazardous materials events that may occur.

2020 Hazardous Materials Incidents:

 128 natural gas leaks  114 carbon monoxide leaks  3 chemical spill or leak  6 Gasoline or other flammable liquid spill

Hazardous Materials Skills Drill

Members of the Orland Hazardous Materials Team must be able to work in adverse environments while wearing multiple layers of personal protective gear. The gear protects the wearer from the hazardous atmosphere while in the ‘hot zone” but it becomes very hot inside the suit. The multiple layers of gloves and the encapsulated suit affects one’s ability to see, hear and move about in dangerous atmospheres. These pictures were taken during a hazardous materials skill drill. The drill reinforces the tasks that all members must be able to perform while wearing the full protective ensemble. Such tasks include: moving a leaking 55-gallon drum into an over-pack container, connecting hoses so that pumps can be used to off-load hazardous products, and using hand tools to secure flanges, and tighten valves, nuts and bolts.