Members of La Crosse FD assist in search and rescue after Cambria plant explosion

Explosion killed four employees

Members of the La Crosse Fire Department who are trained in search and recovery efforts assisted several other agencies following the explosion at a plant in Cambria, Wis., last week.

Division training chief Frank Devine said they were on scene for 25 hours.

“We sent 12 of our members to deploy out of Oakfield with the response equipment to the sight,” he said. “We were involved in search and recovery efforts on the rubble pile.”

Becoming part of the state task force known as Wisconsin Task Force Urban Search and Rescue Team requires 240 hours of training with specialized jobs requiring more.

Devine said though they normally don’t have to use the training they receive for large scale events, it helps them in incidents back home.

“We’ve had small structural collapse incidents, where if it wasn’t for the training we got through being on this team, we wouldn’t have those capabilities locally,” he said.

Some who were dispatched were using the skills they gained while training, for the first time in real life.  

The explosion killed four employees at the plant.