Administrative | Investigation | Special Operations |Training & Academy

Special Operations Division & Stations
The Special Operations Division of the Fort Wayne Fire Department, under the supervision of District Chief Brian Meeks consists of three teams. A Hazardous Materials Response Team, a S.C.U.B.A. Team, and the Technical Rescue Team.

Training requirements (nearly 100 hours per member per year) for assignment to this Division are additional to the training requirements of the Combat Division of the Fort Wayne Fire Department. An annual evaluation of competencies is required to maintain membership for all teams.

Hazardous Materials Team
The Hazardous Materials Team is made up of 36 members trained to the requirements of NFPA 472, Technician level. The Team covers the City of Fort Wayne as well as Allen County with mutual aid agreements for DeKalb, Huntington, Noble, and Whitley Counties and the City of Bluffton in Wells County.

The Technicians are all trained for entry into environments requiring up to Level A protection and are capable of performing a wide variety of tasks. These assignments may include but are not limited to; recognizing and identifying hazardous materials, monitoring of hazardous atmospheres, containment or confinement of a spill or leak, absorbing materials, pressurized container leaks, highway transportation container and railroad tank car accidents.

The Team is additionally trained to respond to Acts of Terrorism involving Weapons of Mass Destruction using Biological, Chemical, or Nuclear agents. Team members are available everyday 24/7 and additional members may be paged to an incident scene if needed.

The Haz-Mat trailer is housed at Station #1 in downtown Fort Wayne.

S.C.U.B.A. Team
The S.C.U.B.A. Team of the Fort Wayne Fire Department consists of 22 members trained and equipped to respond to incidents involving open water, swift water, rapid deployment search-rescue/recovery and rapid deployment ice diving-rescue/recovery. The Team is equipped to dive fully encapsulated into many different water environments.

The Team vehicle with 1 inflatable raft is housed at Station #1 in downtown Fort Wayne. Hard bottom boats and other inflatable rafts are stationed around the city.

Team members are on duty 24/7 and additional members may be paged to an incident scene if needed. The team covers the City of Fort Wayne, Allen County, and will upon request, respond to jurisdictions outside of the county.

Technical Rescue Team
Fort Wayne Fire Department's Technical Rescue Team has 30 members trained and equipped to respond to incidents involving Confined Space, High and Low Angle Rope Rescues, and incidents of Trench Collapse.

The Team meets the requirements of both the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).

The Team truck with equipment is housed at Station #1 in downtown Fort Wayne. Equipment available for response will include but is not limited to; trench shoring materials, rescue shores, Ellis and screw jacks, dewatering pumps, ventilation fans (with the ability to heat an area if needed), SAR's (supplied air respirators capable of traveling 300 feet with escape air ponies), hard line communications, air monitoring equipment, tripod and winches, pulleys and cams, Stokes basket, power and hand tools, hundreds of feet of 2 person dedicated rescue rope and full personal protective equipment for all members.

Team members are on duty 24/7 and additional members may be paged to an incident scene if needed.

The Team covers the City of Fort Wayne, Allen County, and will to respond to other jurisdictions if requested.