LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – No matter how much they train, members of the Las Vegas Fire and Rescue Technical Rescue Team say their greatest asset is the ability to persevere in unexpected circumstances.

“You can train all day, but usually when you show up, it’s something you’ve never seen before,” said Las Vegas Fire and Rescue Capt. Anthony Cliker.

About 40 people make up the team. These are people raised from various ranks in the fire department who go through an extensive eight-week training academy.

“When people call 911 and we get to the scene, usually no one comes,” Clinker explained.

Clinker said the technical rescue team will rescue people in elevators, at Red Rock or even up a tree.

“A lot of palm tree rescues, it’s weird to think that palm tree rescue is a thing, but people are going up palm trees that are unkempt and have a huge skirt of palm leaves stuck to them,” Clinker said.

They can also be called out for heavy vehicle extrication, water rescue and structural collapses.

In September, the team had to put their flexibility to the test during a rescue near Kyle Canyon Road.

Engineer Rachel Pierce says they got a call for a ditch rescue and devised a plan en route.

Once they got to the scene, Pierce says they learned the victim had fallen into a hole made with a circular drill and had to pivot on the fly.

“We got to the scene, we saw what we had, we saw the resources and equipment we had on the scene, the condition of the patient, we knew speed was a factor,” Pierce explained.

She says they adapted quickly, creating a pulley system with a crane as the highlight. They saved the patient from start to finish in less than 30 minutes. The patient was transported to UMC’s Trauma Center and is expected to survive, a department spokesman says.

“Everyone did the job as safely and quickly as possible. We were able to rescue the victim without incident,” Pierce said.

Most of the time, LVFR Battalion Chief Ryan Eldridge says the technical rescue team will be dispatched because the call indicates a specialized team will be needed.

Eldridge says they’ll see several calls a day on some days, while on other days they can go three or four days without a call.

“The day you don’t think anything is going to happen is the day it generally does,” Eldridge said.

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