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Committee approves technical rescue contract to provide confined-space response to Watertown
Summary
The finance committee approved an annual technical rescue services agreement for Watertown, a technical-rescue-only contract that will cost a little over $9,100 per year for training and maintenance; Waukesha Fire Chief Rob Copeland said mobilization and travel could mean up to about an hour for responses.
The Waukesha City Finance Committee on Jan. 27 approved a technical rescue services contract to provide confined-space rescue support to the city of Watertown.
Rob Copeland, Waukesha fire chief, described the agreement as the department’s standard special services contract. He said Watertown requested outside technical rescue assistance primarily for confined-space incidents related to water-utility operations. "There's an annual fee of a little over $9,100 that covers our training costs and expenses to maintain things and so on," Copeland said.
Copeland said the contract covers technical rescue only (not hazmat) and renews annually. He cautioned that travel and mobilization time are material considerations for out-of-district responses: "When you consider mobilization time of the team and the travel time, you're looking at about probably an hour to get services out there," he said, noting that the department has treated Watertown as near the edge of a reasonable response radius.
The committee moved and seconded the recommended action and approved the contract by voice vote.
The chief said Watertown is a new customer for this service. The contract is intended to bolster worker protection and rescue capability for utility crews that enter confined spaces; operational decisions about deployment will be made case by case based on incident type and where response time is valuable.
