Virginia Task Force 2 Urban Search and Rescue Team

Congratulations James! Thank you for your dedication, public service, and community support.

Congratulations James on receiving the 2025 Excellence in Career Fire Service award at the 2025 Governor’s Fire Service Awards during a ceremony held in conjunction with the annual Virginia Fire and Rescue Conference held last week in Virginia Beach. Templeton serves as a Heavy Equipment and Rigging Specialist (HERS) with Virginia Task Force 2 (VA-TF2), a role he has held since joining the team in 2002. During this time, he has demonstrated exceptional technical expertise in high-stakes environments, including operating heavy excavators to assist with searches of damaged structures and performing critical rigging on compromised buildings to facilitate victim rescues in major national disasters such as the Champlain Towers collapse in Miami, FL.

From 2002 to 2015, he also volunteered as a firefighter with the City of Virginia Beach Fire Department, contributing thousands of hours of dedicated service over more than two decades.

Through his company, Allfirst LLC, James has generously supported local fire departments across South Hampton Roads by supplying essential goods and services. This includes designing and constructing training props, collapse simulators, support structures, and providing smokers for every fire station in the region—efforts that have significantly enhanced firefighter training and daily operations.

The profound impact of James’ contributions to the safety, preparedness, and well-being of Virginia’s first responders and citizens is truly invaluable and cannot be fully quantified.