UTAH COUNTY — The American Fork Police Department released the name of the woman who died in a duplex explosion last week.
78-year-old Kathy Harrison did not survive the Wednesday morning blast, while the woman who lived in the other half of the home was able to walk away unscathed.
The cause is still being actively investigated.
Firefighters and police officers from various Utah County departments came to help, including the Utah County Special Response Team.
On Monday, FOX 13 News stopped by one of their intense training sessions.
Despite the gloomy weather and on-and-off rain, students of the Utah County Search and Rescue Team Heavy Rescue School persisted through the mud and cold to prepare for major emergencies.
"[The weather] plays into the real-world scenarios that we can actually get involved in," explained Battalion Chief Jason Branson.
The firefighters are the best of the best. They have to be recommended by their department to participate in the new nonstop one-month program.
"In the past, it took us as much as two years to get all that training done," explained Fire Chief Jeremy Headman.
This week's training is about learning how to handle and rescue in a trench collapse. In previous weeks, they learned rope rescues, confined space rescues, machine rescues, and more.
The participants graduate at the end of the week, but still have 300 more hours a year to complete.
"We can't respond to those incidents or really deal with them effectively without this type of training," said Branson.
"Incidents" like Wednesday's fatal duplex explosion in American Fork. The team's job was to stabilize the site to prevent further collapse.
"The fact that we train together all the time makes it so that when we come together on an emergency like that, it's seamless. We just get together and go to work," said Headman.
As the county grows, so does the possibility of more incidents, and the departments want to ensure their firefighters are ready.
"They all come together and they make a very, very chaotic scene seem calm," said Branson. "As calm as it can be."
The students of the Utah County Heavy Rescue School graduate from the program on Friday.
Before the graduation ceremony, the public is invited to attend an open house to watch as they showcase some of their training. There will also be a Q&A session.
The event is from noon to 2:30 p.m. at the Provo Fire Training Building at 601 W. Colombia Lane.
