By RICKY KERR
Hays Post

Crews from area fire departments completed rescue training Monday for trench cave-in scenarios east of the Hays Water Plant, 1000 Vine. The training, sponsored by the Kansas Fire and Training Rescue Institute, covered everything from site prep, how to use equipment, and securing trench walls.

“It’s a specialized training,” said Hays Fire Department Deputy Chief Ryan Hagans. “It’s an important aspect of what we do, because this type of training can be utilized for somewhere else, say a building collapse where we have to shore up walls to make a tunnel to someone.”

According to Hagans, participants include the HFD, City of Ellis Fire Department, Ellis County Rural Fire Department, and City of Victoria Fire Department. These four groups make up the Northwest Kansas Regional Technical Rescue Team, a group responsible for rescue operations in the 17 counties of northwest Kansas.

The group meets on a quarterly basis and once a year with the KFRTI to go over certain disciplines of technical rescue.