Pantex Rescue Team: Ready to act

The Pantex Fire Department Rescue Team, along with Y-12 firefighter John Fife, who was visiting Pantex, recently participated in a Confined Space Training event in Panhandle. Members of the rescue team are trained in five disciplines—confined spaces, heavy vehicles, structures, rope and trench rescue.

Pantex Fire Department Rescue Team members participate in a confined space training event in Panhandle, Texas.

“All of our team is highly trained,” said Lee Foster, Pantex Fire Department captain. “They have all been to specialized school throughout the tri-state area and are extremely skilled when it comes to these difficult rescue scenarios.”

The rescue team, made up of 23 members, has to train in the five disciplines annually. “We have to train in each area a minimum of eight hours each year,” Foster said. All of that training has been used as the team has been called upon for rescues in the Palo Duro Canyon area as well as other surrounding areas.