Technical Rescue Team

The Fire Department's Technical Rescue Team (TRT) provides specialized equipment and trained personnel to respond to complex rescue situations for the City of Newport News. The NNFD TRT's current staffing consists of 14 individuals per shift for a total of 42 personnel. Primary vehicles available for specialized response include two staffed rescues, a medic unit, and a collapse truck, supported by additional Fire Department apparatus. The team is automatically dispatched to the following types of rescue / extrication situations:

  • Confined and/or closed space rescue
  • High angle rescues
  • Industrial and construction accidents
  • Natural, man-made, and weapons of mass destruction disasters
  • Structural collapse operations
  • Transportation accidents (vehicle, trains, aircraft, etc.)
  • Trench and excavation collapses

Regional Technical Rescue Teams

The NNFD TRT is one of several regional partners that participate in the Peninsula Regional Technical Rescue Team and the Tidewater Regional Technical Rescue Team. These are programs designed to coordinate special response assets associated with technical rescue to the citizens of the Hampton Roads and Middle Peninsula Region.

National Urban Search & Rescue Response System

NNFD TRT is also involved with the National Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) Response System, established under the authority of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in 1989. This is a framework for structuring local emergency service personnel into integrated disaster response task forces.

Virginia Task Force 2

FEMA US&R Virginia Task Force 2 is based out of Virginia Beach and has a task force of 72 persons available for national missions on a moment's notice. There are approximately 180 total members assigned on the task force. Task Force Specialists include firefighters and paramedics from Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Newport News, York County, James City County, Norfolk, and local military installations' fire departments. Civilians are also deployed, including highly trained emergency room physicians, canine handlers, structural engineers, communication experts, and heavy equipment and rigging specialists.