Southern Fire District 14

Technical Rescue Team

(Ashland - Hopkinton - Milford - Southborough)

The Towns of Ashland, Hopkinton, Milford and Southborough have teamed up to provide a Technical Rescue Team.  The purpose of the team is to train a number of firefighters from each of the four towns and provide specialized rescue services, such as confined space, trench rescue, structural collapse, open water emergencies, etc.  Southborough contributes six firefighters to the team. This is the most cost-effective way to provide these much needed technical rescue services to the residents of this MetroWest region. The four communities share equipment and resources as it is cost prohibitive to individually properly train and equip the individual communities.

Members train on a monthly basis in order to maintain their skills.  Nationally recognized experts are brought in to train the team members quarterly to ensure the most up-to-date rescue techniques. All training and emergency operations are conducted to national safety standards to ensure firefighter and victim safety.

When an incident requiring the Technical Rescue Team occurs, Ashland Fire Dispatch pages the incident out to team members. On- and off-duty members respond to the incident and function within the incident command system.

The four communities contain hundreds of "confined spaces" that are identified, including, but not limited to utility manholes, well chambers, and above-ground spaces. With constant construction in the area, several live trenching operations can be found in the four-town region on a daily basis. 

The team won special recognition from Governor Romney on December 15, 2003 in "Appreciation for heroic acts of bravery, courage and performance beyond the call of duty as exemplified by the Firefighter of The Year Award". The award, presented at the Annual Firefighter Of The Year Awards ceremony was in recognition of the Hopkinton gas explosion that claimed the lives of two children on July 24, 2002.

The equipment is housed in trailers that be towed by support vehicles of the four sponsoring departments.