Local rescue squad gets call

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Aug 31, 2005 | by Ricci Graham, STAFF WRITER

A Bay Area team of firefighters that specializes in swift-water rescue operations was activated and later dispatched Tuesday to a region of New Orleans that has been trampled by the fierce winds and torrential rains of Hurricane Katrina.

Members of the region's California Task Force 4, Urban Search and Rescue Team were alerted by U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency late Monday night, giving the squad just a few hours to prepare for rescue efforts in Louisiana, said Jim Purchio, assistant chief for the Alameda County Fire Department.

The team consists of scuba divers, paramedics, helicopter pilots, powerboat operators and hazardous materials experts trained in water rescue and structural search-and-rescue operations.

The crew was scheduled to depart from Travis Air Force Base in Solano County early Tuesday morning, but Purchio said it encountered equipment-related delays and didn't leave for Louisiana until Tuesday afternoon.

"We were given a heads up on Monday," Purchio said. "But it took a while to get the actual orders."

Members of the rescue team, which participated in the massive search efforts following the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks in New York, assembled at a staging area in Oakland, where they underwent physicals before gathering their gear.

The 14-member team was then taken by bus to Travis Air Force Base, where they boardeda military plane for a flight to Louisiana on Tuesday morning, Purchio said.

"We got the call about 4 a.m. (Tuesday), and I think we were wheels-up at 7 a.m.," Purchio said. "Once we were notified, we got like six hours of activation time."

The urban search-and-rescue team -- which consists of members from Oakland, Alameda County, Fremont, Livermore, Pleasanton and Berkeley fire departments -- is funded by FEMA.

The team is one of eight in California and 28 nationwide. It will be joined by crews from Sacramento and Menlo Park for an operation that could keep the rescue crews in Louisiana for at least two weeks, Purchio said.

Hurricane Katrina -- an immense Category 5 hurricane that blew ashore with fierce winds measured at about 160 mph Monday -- buried low-lying cities in Louisiana and neighboring Gulf Coast states under a sea of water, causing untold damage throughout the region.

Purchio said the team will be equipped with gear that includes several search boats, rescue vehicles, food rations for 72 hours, fiber-optic cameras and listening devices.

"They're taking a lot of equipment with them," Purchio said. "They get issued any special gear they need and are given a briefing. My understanding is all the teams in the United States ... are sending people."

Purchio said the squad will encounter a great number of dangers when it begins search-and-rescue operations, but he added that members have received years of training to prepare for the challenges they'll face in Louisiana.

"It's quite the operation," Purchio said. "They face normal dangers, such as if you're working in collapsed buildings, and things like that. But they're highly trained."

With much of the Golf Coast region submerged in water, Purchio surmised that the team will be assigned to rescue operations in flooded areas.

"(FEMA officials) said they wanted water-rescue people," Purchio said. "This might be a little different, but this is what they do."