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Volunteer Firefighters from Multiple Departments Receive
Training for Rapid Intervention Team
Published: September 04, 2026 at 12:00 p.m.
By: linkinglewiscounty.com
Pictured left to right: Assist. Chief Scott Day,
Castorland; Firefighter Will Zehr, Castorland; Assist. Chief Connor Brouty,
New Breman; Fire Chief Les Hoppel, New Breman; Assist. Chief Tyler Ashline,
Castorland; Fire Chief Gary Ashline, Castorland; Lieutenant Nicholas
Frizzell, Castorland; Firefighter Andrew Loomis, Castorland;
Instructor& Fire Chief Will Kalin, Rutland; Firefighter Chris Max, West
Carthage; Firefighter Harrison Scott, West Carthage; Assist Chief David
Paquette, West Carthage. Missing from picture: Assist Chief Logan Eddy,
Rutland; Firefighter Chris Morales, Rutland; Captain Matt Covillon, West
Carthage.
Castorland, NY- A ceremony was
held at the Castorland Fire Department on Monday night to recognize the
training efforts of the volunteers making up the new Rapid Intervention
Team (RIT) for Lewis and Jefferson County fire departments along the county
lines.
Rapid
Intervention Team members can be assigned to incidents when there is a
threat of immediate danger to life or health. This primarily includes, but
is not limited to, response to structure fires. Most departments already
assign members to this function, with two outside firefighters ready to go
at a moment’s notice to rescue a firefighter that may be down, trapped,
lost, or disoriented for every two firefighters inside a structure. This
means that half of the responding department’s interior firefighters must
stay outside the structure to perform this function.
As volunteer fire
departments continue to experience dwindling membership numbers it can be a
struggle to have enough members to assign to this task. The new Rapid
Intervention Team is not intended to take away any duties from an
individual department but was established as an extension of manpower to
perform this task and free up the department members to work together with
their own department members inside the structure. The RIT can help
departments keep in compliance with PESH (Public Employee Safety and Health)
and NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) standard requirements. When
a structure fire has been confirmed or the criteria for Immediate Danger to
Life or Health (IDLH) has been met the department
having authority may call for the RIT. Once alerted, the team will arrive
to assist and assemble on scene to arrange its
necessary tools and perform its duties when required, whether it is in
Jefferson or Lewis County. Once the IDLH has been lowered they will be
released back to service.
The new Rapid
Intervention Team consists of members from Castorland, New Bremen, Rutland,
and West Carthage volunteer fire departments. Team members have received around
24-hours of inhouse special training from a past
NY State Fire Instructor who received the training in the past. The instructor
brought his knowledge and skills to the group and held classroom lessons at
the Castorland fire hall, demonstrating the skills. The team then used a
donated building in the Village of Castorland and New Breman’s Fire
Training Building to hone in on their skills that
were taught in the class. Most firefighters don’t receive this type of
training, for example preparing a firefighter to move safely inside a
building, down a set of stairs or up the stairs, or out a window to be
lowered to the ground.
The team is still
working on a few details, response guidelines (BEST PRACTICES), and
acquiring a few tools. Lewis County Emergency Management has submitted for
the RIT or Fast Team class to be scheduled, although no time frame for when
New York State Fire can teach the state level class has been provided.
RIT Members
include:
In photo: Assist.
Chief Scott Day, Castorland; Firefighter Will Zehr, Castorland; Assist.
Chief Connor Brouty, New Breman; Fire Chief Les Hoppel, New Breman; Assist.
Chief Tyler Ashline, Castorland; Fire Chief Gary Ashline, Castorland;
Lieutenant Nicholas Frizzell, Castorland; Firefighter Andrew Loomis,
Castorland; Instructor& Fire Chief Will Kalin, Rutland; Firefighter
Chris Max, West Carthage; Firefighter Harrison Scott, West Carthage; Assist
Chief David Paquette, West Carthage. Members missing from photo include: Assist Chief Logan Eddy, Rutland; Firefighter
Chris Morales, Rutland; Captain Matt Covillon, West Carthage.
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