A house fire is considered high risk and high frequency in the fire department world. There’s a science and familiarity with the scenes that give firefighters a calm during the chaos.

Trench rescues are a different story.

There are roughly 100 deaths from trench rescues in the US each year, according to Capt. Kyle Ohashi with the Kent Fire Department Regional Fire Authority. The relatively low number classifies the rescues as “high risk, low frequency” occurrences. But the rarity of the event adds to the danger. A trench rescue call will really make a firefighter sweat.

“These things are much less predictable,” said Ohashi, watching on as members of the South King County Fire Training Consortium held a trench rescue training on Sept. 10.

Upwards of 100 firefighters from the consortium were trained, including members if the Maple Valley and Kent departments, from Sept. 9-12.

Trench rescues are complex, and involve constructing support panels, checking for underground gasses and pressurizing cylinders. Much of the training is based on learning to enter a trench safely.

While coworkers and family might react to a collapsed ditch scenario by diving in after a victim, this type of action usually snowballs towards additional problems. Firefighters are trained to take the more cautious and safe route.

“You follow the rules and reduce the chance of injuries and death,” Ohashi said. “We either do it right or don’t do it at all.”

Live trench training is an annual requirement and is different than the work done during the deadly Oso mudslide in March. In Oso, rescue personnel could mainly only scour through the muddy wreckage for bodies. The trench scenario simulated a worker trapped by a 2,000 pound section of pipe in a 9-foot deep trench. Among other things, the technical rescue firefighters practiced reinforcing the sides of the trench and lifting the pipe to free the worker.

The Consortium trains in multiple specialized areas, including swift water rescue, high angle rope rescue and structural collapse.

JR Hayes Corporation, a construction and management services business in Maple Valley, provided the property and equipment to prepare the trench and drills without cost. Rescue Group Supervisor Mark Morales, who is also the captain of the Tukwila Fire Department, said the training can cost upwards of $10,000 otherwise.

Shonnessy Gilmore, Safety Director for JR Hayes, said construction is inherently a dangerous industry and the company was happy to provide an avenue that is mutually beneficial.

“People say it’s better than a Powerpoint,” Gilmore said.

Working in the controlled, relatively safe environment, departments from various cities seemed to collaborate effectively and earnestly on Sept. 10. Ohashi said the trainings are an important part of every department’s main goal: that each firefighter can go home to his or her family each night.

“There’s nothing fire fighters love more than a challenge,” Ohashi said. “Something different and specialized.”