El Paso firefighters enhance confined space rescue training with joint initiative

Community News

Jun 18, 2026

Several men standing next to each other in two rows. — At the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the training apparatus, officials from the city of El Paso’s fire department joined representatives of MPC’s El Paso refinery: Vice President of Refining Les Davis (back row, left), Fire Chief Daniel Roy (front row, second from left) and Principal Corporate Social Responsibility & Community Relations Representative V.J. Smith (back row, center).

Key Points

The El Paso, Texas, fire department is strengthening its capabilities with the department’s first training apparatus for practicing confined space rescues.
A grant from Marathon Petroleum Corporation’s El Paso refinery funded its construction at the city’s firefighter training academy.
The apparatus will allow city and refinery firefighters to train together, further enhancing joint readiness in support of their mutual aid agreement.

Specially trained teams are needed to rescue individuals who are trapped or incapacitated in confined spaces, such as storage tanks, exhaust ducts and buildings damaged by severe weather. In El Paso, Texas, firefighters are strengthening their ability to manage these types of rescues through coordination between the city’s fire department and Marathon Petroleum Corporation’s (MPC) El Paso refinery.

A refinery grant to the El Paso fire department funded construction of a confined space training prop at the city’s firefighter training academy using large metal shipping containers. The apparatus includes enclosed vertical shafts and horizontal conduits that are 18 to 24 inches wide and serve as confined spaces for rescue simulations.

Several people sit in chairs arranged int two rows. — Firefighters from the city of El Paso listen to remarks during the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new training prop, which was funded by a grant from MPC’s El Paso refinery.

An opening cut into a section of the training prop during its construction.

“The vision was to create a mutually beneficial training collaboration that would enable city and refinery firefighters to train and learn from one another,” El Paso Refinery Fire Chief Daniel Roy said. “The overall goal is to invest in safety for the greater community as well as create a safer and more hazard-resilient refinery.”

Extracting injured or unconscious persons from confined spaces generally requires specific equipment and methods. Among other things, air monitoring devices, ventilation systems, and technical rescue equipment like ropes, pulleys and harnesses are often used.

The training prop enhances an existing agreement between the city and refinery fire departments to assist each other during major incidents. With the city’s training academy only a mile from the refinery, schedules are being arranged to allow city and MPC firefighters to train on the prop together and separately.

“Fostering development of the city’s skill set serves to make our refinery team that much more prepared in the event of a significant mutual aid rescue response,” said Roy. “Iron sharpens iron, so our team will also benefit developmentally by tapping into the knowledge of the city’s team. This creates a symbiotic relationship where both parties benefit.”


Large metal shipping containers were used to construct the training apparatus, which simulates confined spaces, such as storage tanks, exhaust ducts and damaged buildings, to help firefighters hone their skills.	The training apparatus is at the city of El Paso’s firefighter training academy where teams from the city and MPC’s El Paso refinery will train to further enhance joint readiness in support of their mutual aid agreement.