The Goshen Fire Department now has a firefighter assist and search team also known as a FAST team. This is a specialized unit dedicated to the search and rescue of other firefighters in distress.

“About 20 years ago, we were one of the first departments to actually get a FAST team. We brought the concept up from YC where it was initially created," said Goshen Fire Lieutenant Daniel Graham.

The specialized unit was disbanded about five years ago due to low staffing, but was recently brought back. The National Fire Prevention Association standard is that a FAST team be dispatched at every structure fire.

“There’s not a lot of departments that do it, and obviously, every structure fire within the county has to have a dedicated team," Graham said.

If a fire department needs more help, they can request mutual aid. This is when departments in surrounding towns are called into help with a fire.

“Goshen being available as a FAST team means other agencies around us can put us on their mutual aid plan, and when there’s a working fire in their district, we’d automatically be dispatched and be assigned to fill the FAST team assignment at that job," Graham said.

“There’s a lot of training to get on the FAST team, so it’s usually the best of the best who get on the team," said Goshen firefighter Dan Caruso.

There are only about nine teams in Orange County, and Graham says there is a definite need for more. Over the last decade, he says the number of structure fires has gone down, but technology and chemicals in new buildings make the fires that do occur more dangerous.

“So even though the number of fires has gone down, the level of danger has gone up significantly,” Graham said. “So the likelihood of a firefighter being trapped or lost or becoming missing has increased significantly in the last 10-15 years.”