Squad secretary and deputy captain Paul Marshall said the group’s two-day vertical rescue training attracted a lot of interested onlookers.

“Everyone driving past was curious and there were children looking up to see what was happening – I kept having to remind them it wasn’t Spiderman,” he said.

Across two days a dozen Volunteer Rescue Association members took to the Albury quarry and Albury’s Volt Lane parking complex.

Mr Marshall said the members were undertaking vertical rescue course with new technology and equipment, purchased through fundraising efforts. 

He said the skills and equipment ensured the squad could keep up with the growing and changing face of the region.

“Albury is expanding as it is, we’re seeing a big increase in multi-storey buildings,” he said.

“In a worst-case scenario we can get someone off the top of a building or from somewhere precarious.

“We’ve found in the past, during construction is the main time something can happen, if a construction worker injures themselves we have the capability to bring them down safely.”

Mr Marshall said the squad practised rescues in different environments and during a mix of blue skies and fog to ensure they were ready for anything.

He said the equipment, purchased with community support, made rescues safer for volunteers.

“What we’ve found is the new equipment has opened up our capabilities,” he said.

“There’s been lots of dollars invested in the equipment and it helps us complete rescues faster, safer and more efficiently.

“The big thing in the past is when setting things up, it wasn’t time consuming but it was labour intensive, where as now one bit of equipment has replaced three.”

Mr Marshall said two specialist trainers were sent from Deniliquin and a vertical specialist from Yass.

He thanked Albury Council for letting them use Volt Lane parking complex.