05/11/2026
Last week, two of our members, Chambliss and Lichford IV, who are a part of Bedford County Special Operations Command - SOC, an elite technical rescue group within the County of Bedford, attended the 2026 Rescue Challenge in Harrisonburg, VA. This was a four-day event that totaled twelve scenarios, eight of which each team would be assigned, encapsulating a wide range of technical disciplines. Each event totals four hours, with three hours to complete the rescue mission. There are two scenarios each day. The high-stakes scenarios require teamwork, critical thinking, discipline, technician level knowledge, specialized equipment and pure dedication for the job.
Our team included a total of 23 rescue technicians combined from areas of Bedford County Special Operations Command (2 Boonsboro, 2 Forest, 1 Bedford and 1 BCoFR), Danville Fire Department, Lynchburg Fire Department and WestRock. Some scenarios consisted of real patients (all injuries were staged and no one was actually hurt while other patients were manikin style).
Day 1: Grain Bin and Cave Rescues
The morning started off with a 148 foot tall active grain bin that was just over half full. Rescuers climbed to the top, monitored inside air quality and then setup a rope system inside to lower themselves down. They then became
victims that had to be rescued by other team members.
The afternoon consisted of two different operations at the same site; a cave rescue on top of the mountain that was 75’ deep into the earth and a 100’ plus rock face rescue over a cliff on the same mountain. Our members worked on the cave rescue, descending inside the cave to the victim. The victim was packaged, hauled out of the cave by rope systems and then transferred to a stokes basket and wheel to the bottom of the mountain. The decent was so steep that rope systems were also put into place to transport the live patient with a controlled lower.
Day 2: Trench Rescue and Confined Space
The members started off with a t-shaped trench that was just under 12 feet deep to rescue a training hose victim (not real) trapped under an excavator bucket. Before any entry is allowed into the trench, the trench must be stabilized for rescue personnel to safely enter. This requires knowledge about soil types, proper panel and whaler placement, strut spacing and pressurization procedures, back filling requirements and safe lifting techniques of the steel bucket along with patient packaging and extraction.
The afternoon then consisted of high angle ropes, haul systems and confined space at the Coors Brewing Company in Elkton, VA to remove four victims (manikins) from a mashing vessel. Technicians had to establish a rope system to the upper level, haul up equipment and other rescue personnel, create another haul system to lower technicians into the mashing vessel, package patients and then be extracted in tandem to the top deck, finally being lowered to the ground level. Entrants had to go onto supplied air for confined space access. These are specialized air carts used to supply rescuers with breathing air from tethered air lines.
Day 3: Massanutten Resort for tower based, ski lift and wilderness rescues
While ski resorts are not in our county, there are many towers and other obstacles at height that require rescue technicians to perform life saving operations. There was a short briefing from resort personnel on the roll-cart that allows access to the ski lift cabling and then a T-chair to lower victims on the ski lift to the ground. After the briefing, our members took their rope harnesses, gear and other rescue equipment up the mountain to perform multiple tower and ski
lift rescues on the ski slopes.
Wilderness was the topic for the afternoon. Driving to the top of the resort mountain on the walking trails, there were two scenarios that our members participated in: one (1) a hiker lost on the mountain ridge injured and second (2) a hiker that fell down the mountain and was impaled by a steel fence post. Team
members hiked up the ridge, searched for the patient, provided EMS care, packaged for transport and then team carried the patient the 0.8 tenths of a mile to the command post. This was a live patient with no injuries but participated for the activity for true life simulation.
Then another patient (hose manikin) was down the mountain trail with an impalement from a steel fence post. Rescuers worked to stabilize the patient, cut the post and transport to safety.
Day 4: Large Animal Rescue (LAR) and Shoring
This scenario included a life scale horse manikin and five patients (one manikin and four real-life living humans) that had not returned from a horse trail ride. A Recon team was sent to search for the horse and victims, reporting back their findings to the command post for needed equipment and rescue personnel. The Recon team reported a patient trapped under a horse, both in the river opposite side from teams, one patient river center with a head injury and three patients across the river with injuries under a bridge. Multiple teams were assembled with swimmers, boat operators, and LAR technicians to help rescue all patients, including the horse. Multiple rope systems were used at the bridge to lower the patients to boats for transport across the river, a river rescue for the solo patient and rescue technicians to remove the trapped patient and rescue the horse. A complex rope system was installed, including a Harken traction rescue winch to haul the horse from the river bank, up the steep muddy embankment to the command post. Our Chief, SOC Squad Leader of LAR, held the command for this scenario. Total operation time was two hours, eighteen minutes - what an organized hustle.
The final scenario of the week was building shoring on a house that experienced an earthquake event with several occupants trapped inside. A raker system was erected on the exterior wall for entry to the main floor level on division one. A three post system was installed and then a tripod was used to lower rescue personnel to the basement to remove an isolated patient. Members also created a window shore to access the basement division, erecting a lace post system, for upper floor support and then a double-T shore for upper floor support to remove a patient entrapped under a concrete culvert pipe with crush injuries.
We appreciate the opportunity to participate with other agencies that demonstrate the true meaning of collaborative interoperability amongst numerous jurisdictions to complete the technical rescue mission(s) to bring all patients to safety. While these events were all pre-planned mock events, our rescue technicians must be mission ready no matter the event.
Our Rescue Technicians at Boonsboro Fire & Rescue are 100 percent volunteer and undergo long hours of rigorous training to get certified and then continued hours of required training to stay tactful and laser focused to perform all rescue missions swiftly and safely in any environment, day or night. Not only is the training and experience important, but having our loved ones support us to continue to be away from home when duty calls. Hats off to our two team members and the other 273 individuals that participated over the four-day period.
We would also like to extended our gratitude to the Technical Rescue Association of Virginia (TRAVA) for all the behind scene planning and setup of such wonderful real-world scenarios - you all brought the challenge and we brought the experts to accept those missions and make the grabs. Another thanks goes out to Rockbridge County for hosting the event and providing victims and scene locations, the including those businesses that allowed us to use their facilities and staff. See you in 2027 for the next challenge.
