Kane County firefighters conduct trench rescue training in Geneva

Several Kane County fire departments came together to conduct trench rescue training on Friday morning in Geneva.

Geneva Public Works dug an 8-foot deep trench on city-owned property at 64 Peck Road. Mutual Aid Box Alarm System Division 13 team members used the trench to simulate emergency rescue scenarios.

A dummy, used as the “victim,” was buried in the bottom of the trench for MABAS Technical Rescue Team members to recover.

More than 50 members of the St. Charles, Geneva, Aurora, North Aurora, Batavia and Elburn fire departments participated in the training. The city of Geneva’s drone operator also assisted.

Participants broke into teams to perform various tasks in the rescue. Each team consisted of firefighters from different departments.

Geneva Fire Chief Mike Antenore said the simulation was designed to replicate trench cave-in scenarios that might occur when utility workers are digging during water main, gas work or underground electrical maintenance.

Antenore said live simulation training is important because the scenarios are highly specialized and technical. He said they host trench rescue training annually as well as live simulations of other disciplines of technical rescues quarterly, such as confined space and high-angle rescue.

Antenore said trench rescue emergencies are rare. They have responded to only one in the past few years, but live training events keep firefighters prepared and maintain their certifications.

While dozens of firefighters worked together as part of the training, Antenore said in a real emergency, a trench rescue would call for all available units and likely would be performed by 15 firefighters.

Steve Siwy, a St. Charles firefighter who serves as the MABAS 13 assistant coordinator, said technical rescue teams frequently train for different emergency scenarios. He said Kane County firefighters don’t respond to these situations often. Simulations are important for them to stay sharp.