RIVERDALE — When there’s a big emergency in Weber County, the Riverdale Fire Department brings the hammer.

Actually, “It’s a gigantic toolbox,” said Fire Capt. Matt Hennessy, talking about Heavy Rescue 41, the fire truck that’s called in on the region’s toughest challenges such as trench collapses, plane and car crashes, and cliff and swift-water rescues. Building collapses, tornadoes and people becoming trapped in tight spaces also are on the list.

The truck is crammed with drills, hammers, breaching tools, cameras, rope, high-pressure air tanks and air bags, portable lighting, saws, and torches to cut metal. An inflatable boat is strapped to the roof.

RELATED: Worker alive, doing OK after 3-ton metal plate fell on him in Ogden

Oh, make that two giant toolboxes.

While 41 is the 2-year-old, front-line vehicle, Riverdale also houses a 46-foot-long mammoth that contains equipment for trench collapses and other incidents calling for extra-heavy equipment. The older, larger  truck has been in service for about 15 years, a product of Homeland Security Department funding in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

“When this thing rolls, it is a high-risk event,” said Fire Chief Jared Sholly.

Together, the two trucks and their heavy rescue gear are worth about $500,000, he said.

Both trucks responded to Ogden on Sept. 29 when a 6,000-pound metal plate fell on a worker in a trench. The Ogden Fire Department has heavy rescue-certified firefighters, but they don’t have trench-rescue equipment, Sholly said.

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ANN ELISE TAYLOR/Standard-Examiner

The departments worked together and the trapped employee was rescued. Similar arrangements play out in various other types of emergencies, such as hazardous materials spills. For instance, Sholly said Riverdale can handle small spills, but departments with great hazmat capabilities are called in for larger incidents.

“Not one department in the county can do it by themselves,” he said. “We have to spread it out.”

Riverdale became Weber County’s heavy rescue headquarters because the fire station had the space available and it’s close to Interstate 15, other major traffic arteries, Ogden-Hinckley Airport and Hill Air Force Base.

Riverdale has nine of the county’s three dozen firefighters who are certified in heavy rescue, Sholly said. 

Hennessy said the heavy rescue team trains on scenarios that may call for unusual approaches that normal emergency responders can’t perform.

He used the example of a car overturned in a narrow ditch. Crews can’t get through the doors, “but we can go through the trunk” with heavy rescue gear.

“We cut up a lot of cars for practice,” Hennessy said.

Sholly said Riverdale’s heavy rescue personnel have completed 2,500 hours of of training over the past five years. Hennessy estimated he has 20 or more certifications in various heavy rescue and other firefighting disciplines.

“These skills go away if we are not training on a regular basis,” Sholly said. “They take a lot of pride in this. They know what it means when a life is hanging in the balance.”

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MARK SHENEFELT/Standard-Examiner

The chief said the heavy rescue trucks have responded to 26 incidents around Weber County over the past year. The newer truck is also routinely dispatched to wrecks on busy Riverdale Road.

When a plane crashed on I-15 on July 26, the Riverdale trucks responded, but all four people on the plane were dead. Riverdale used its gear to remove the fuselage so the bodies could be recovered.

“We are sensitive about doing that the right way,” Sholly said.

Meantime, local heavy rescue firefighters are mindful of projections that the Wasatch Front is at risk for a major earthquake. If one strikes, “we’ll be right in the middle of that,” Sholly said.

You can reach reporter Mark Shenefelt at mshenefelt@standard.net or 801 625-4224. Follow him on Twitter at @mshenefelt and like him on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/SEmarkshenefelt.