A group from the West Hartford Fire Department participated in an Arborist Rescue Training program this week.

Members of the West Hartford Fire Department participate in arborist rescue training at Fernridge Park on Wednesday. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

By Ronni Newton

Members of the West Hartford Fire Department spent Tuesday and Wednesday working on tree rescue skills, and what they were learning was much more extensive than the cliché call to a firefighter to rescue a cat stuck in a tree.

While it’s not an everyday occurrence, arborists can get injured – seriously injured – while working high up in the tree canopy, often with chainsaws, and it’s challenging for responders to render emergency care and get an injured party safely down from a tall tree.

“We can now send the paramedics up there to start treating the injured party before they come down,” said Assistant Chief Hugh O’Callaghan, who was observing the training taking place in a roughly 80-foot-tall sycamore tree at the edge Fernridge Park on Wednesday morning.

Members of the West Hartford Fire Department participate in arborist rescue training at Fernridge Park on Wednesday. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

Through the two-day training program, a group of 16 from the West Hartford Fire Department participated in the training with Vector Rescue, which is based in New Milford and was founded by two longtime Danbury firefighters.

While there haven’t been any incidents in West Hartford, there have been arborists injured elsewhere in the state and beyond, and O’Callaghan said it was identified as one of the department’s missing skills. Untrained responders could take as long as three or four hours to safely extricate an arborist from a tall tree, and O’Callaghan said they would have to cobble together a plan on the fly, usually starting with getting a ladder truck as close as possible.

Through this training program with Vector, the firefighters are learning to make anchors and hook themselves/latch into the existing rope system used by the arborist to climb a tree. They will be able to conduct rescues “as high up as we can do it safely,” O’Callaghan said.

Vector Rescue has worked with West Hartford firefighters in the past, including on a recent ropes training for high-angle rescue using the roof Isham Garage in Blue Back Square.

James Croswell, co-founder of Vector Rescue, demonstrates the skills he was teaching West Hartford Fire Department members during an arborist rescue training program. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

“A lot of fire departments in the Northeast, Connecticut specifically, have incidents of people getting stuck in trees,” said James Croswell, a career firefighter in Danbury who is one of the founders of Vector Rescue. It’s historically taken a long tine to do a rescue, he said, but through this training, “it can be facilitated faster, and it’s better to get out of the tree faster.”

Croswell said the training program was developed after New Milford-based Emmons Tree & Landscaping Service reached out to Vector to determine how to blend the fire department rescue techniques with arborist systems.

“They are completely different – different harnesses, different climbing techniques,” Croswell said, noting that arborists use a one-rope system while firefighters use two ropes. “It’s a little bit more risky.”

James Croswell, co-founder of Vector Rescue, demonstrates the skills he was teaching West Hartford Fire Department members during an arborist rescue training program. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

The 16 from West Hartford who participated in this week’s training program with Vector all volunteered, and they will train other department members through future sessions. The participants included lieutenants, apparatus operators, paramedics, and firefighters.

The program stemmed from a $400,000 FEMA grant previously received by the West Hartford Fire Department, O’Callaghan said.

West Hartford firefighters could possibly be called upon to use their skills in other towns through mutual aid. Only a few departments in the state, including Hamden and Fairfield, have undergone this specialized training.

Croswell said Vector will next be running a program in New Hampshire. They conduct about two or three arborist rescue training programs a year, and have done a total of 12-14 overall throughout the Northeast. Elsewhere in the country the approach would likely be different because the types of trees are different, he said.

Five firefighters from Fairfield recently went through the training – and just two weeks later had to put it to use, Croswell said.

Lt. Ben Coker was one of 16 from the West Hartford Fire Department to participate in an arborist rescue class with Vector Rescue. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

Lt. Ben Coker said he “jumped in” as soon as he learned of the opportunity to sign up for the arborist rescue training. “It’s great experience to get with the ropes,” he said.

Coker said he liked to climb as a kid, but hasn’t climbed trees since then and otherwise doesn’t have any experience. He wasn’t able to participate in the previous ropes training, but others in his group said some of those skills were transferable.

“You don’t really think about the height, or falling,” said Coker. “But it’s not as easy as they make it look.”

So much of learning a new skill is repetition, Coker said. “Three out of four of my crew are in this class. We’re going to do this all the time,” he said.

Next up for West Hartford firefighter training is confined spaces rescue, O’Callaghan said.

James Croswell, co-founder of Vector Rescue, demonstrates the skills he was teaching West Hartford Fire Department members during an arborist rescue training program. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

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