SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA CO. (WOLF) — When emergencies strike, Scranton Fire Rescue 1 is ready to respond.
As a specialized unit within the Scranton Fire Department, its crews handle a wide range of dangerous situations, from vehicle crashes requiring hydraulic rescue tools to technical rescues and swiftwater emergencies.
Their work goes far beyond fighting fires, relying on specialized training and equipment to help save lives when people need it most.
Captain Robert Zoltewicz, alongside firefighters Nick Millian and Shane Buchspics, gave us a closer look at the team’s specialized capabilities and the emergencies they respond to.
“We’re a pretty diverse firehouse with capabilities. And we respond out to any emergency in the city, with the assistance of any other firefighter that’s working with us on shift throughout the other stations. It’s a lot of specialty work here. Could be anything from high angle rope rescue. Fires, of course. Stuck elevators, car crashes, things of that nature,” said Zoltewicz.
Scranton Fire Rescue 1 also has a specialized water and swiftwater rescue team, responding to flooding and water emergencies across the region. Zoltewicz said rescuing someone trapped in a fast-moving river can be especially dangerous, requiring specialized training and equipment.
“We have a pretty good capability, for water rescue as it relates to flash flooding, things of that nature. Sometimes we’ll have vehicles that drive into flooded out roadways, and our members will go out and assist with bringing them back over to safety. Or sometimes we have people in the river in a moving water situation where it’s much more technical, much more intense of an operation,” said Zoltewicz.
Zoltewicz said crews respond to more than 2,000 calls a year, including complex technical rescues ranging from trench collapses to locating trapped victims using specialized drills and search cameras. He emphasized that every rescue takes a team effort.
“Technical rescue capabilities for the members in the department as a whole include, rope rescue, water, trenching and excavation type emergencies, where someone maybe pinned in the Earth as a result of a failure. We’ve got a lot of different things. Could be a collapse as a result of a gas explosion. We have the ability to, drill, core drill. And then we have camera equipment to be able to look and search for people. So, we’ve got a lot of different capabilities here. We call them specialties, but they require a lot of training, and I can’t emphasize enough how the entire department plays a major role in the success of this place,” said Zoltewicz.
“So, we make sure that we’re well trained, practiced, and all of our other members within the organization are here for us for support, of course,” said Zoltewicz.
No two calls are ever the same, but for the members of Scranton Fire Rescue 1, the mission remains unchanged, putting their training and expertise to work to ensure those in need make it home safely.