Phoenix firefighters prep for upcoming monsoon season

PHOENIX (KSAZ) - The technical rescue team is made up of about 250 Phoenix firefighters, and every member is trained for basic swift-water rescue, with roughly 25 trained to do rescue work out of Firebird 10.

The crew onboard Firebird 10 is prepping for a busy season.

"When we're doing rescue ops, if we're doing something close to the ground and one engine has some sort of mechanical issue, the second engine will increase the amount of power... we can still fly," Paul Polinar said.

Polinar, who's chief pilot for air support, says the twin engine helicopter might be called out to dozens, if not more, swift-water rescues, just like one in Cave Creek a few years ago.

"When we are doing rescue ops, there's two police pilots up front, then we have the crew chief that is generally in the back with us," he said.

Capt. Bobby Dubnow is one of the rescuers onboard, and he gave a demonstration on how victims are lifted to safety.

"The rescuer is going to be attached on this red side, you of course, are already attached on the blue side," he said. "The hook goes on that ring, we all go up together."

Along with the chopper, there's an inflatable life raft that crews rely on, and safety equipment. All of it is just as important as the skill set itself when it comes to swift-water rescues.

"Because we live in the desert, when we do get a rain event, it doesn't take very much rain to create flash-flood conditions," Dubnow said.

The entire crew trains year-round.