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Special operations

The Hazardous Materials Response Team began service in 1986. This highly-trained and skilled team is one of numerous local government hazmat teams located throughout Washington.

What is a “hazardous material?”

A hazardous material, by definition, is “any element, compound or substance that poses an unreasonable risk to health or property and which, because of handling, storage, processing or packaging, may have detrimental effects on emergency personnel, the public, equipment and/or the environment.”

The Hazmat team is deployed to hazardous materials emergencies throughout Clark County and when requested, to other neighboring jurisdictions.

Personnel

The Hazmat team is staffed by career firefighters. Firefighters are assigned voluntarily to the team for a minimum of five years. While on-duty, team members are evenly dispersed among three shifts. Team members are on-call during off-duty hours.

Team members prepare pre-emergency contingency plans that are based on hazard and risk assessments of known hazardous material bulk storage and use facilities within VFD’s response area. Team leaders also participate in regional and state contingency planning, which includes hazardous materials transported over Clark County railroads and highways.

Special Operations – Marine Team

VFD’s all-hazard quick response vessel, Discovery (Vancouver USA Fire Boat 1), provides rapid water response to fire, rescue and hazmat incidents occurring on or along the Columbia River between Lewiston and Astoria.

The rescue boat coordinates closely with other public safety marine units during emergency operations.

Discovery is staffed with well-trained firefighters who are qualified and approved to fill one or more of the following operational roles:

Using smaller “fast attack” vessels instead of the larger traditional fireboats provides both tactical and economic advantages, providing a quicker and more nimble response to marine fires and other emergencies and costing far less to operate and maintain.

Special Operations – Technical Rescue

Technical rescue is a special skills area of the fire service that focuses on the application of specific knowledge, skills, and equipment to safely resolve unique and/or complex rescue situations. Examples include rescues from confined spaces, trench collapse, water emergencies, structural collapse, and rescuing people trapped above or below grade or in other challenging situations.

The Vancouver Fire Department’s Technical Rescue Team is a group of personnel having advanced training and special equipment to safely and efficiently conduct technical rescue operations. The team works closely with the City’s Public Works Department.

Technical Rescue is akin to what Emergency Medical Service programs were to the 1970s, and Hazardous Materials programs were to the 1980s. It has gained prominence in our everyday lives with incidents such as Hurricane Andrew, the Northridge California Earthquake, and the Oklahoma City Bombing, where specialized rescue response is needed.