Skip to content


Fairfax County & Los Angeles USAR teams to Haiti. Firefighters are gathering for earthquake response.

8 comments

Virginia Task Force 1 website

California Task Force 2 website

Click here for slideshow of Fairfax County’s team preparing for departure

Not unexpected this evening, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced it is sending a Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) to Haiti. This will include firefighters from Fairfax County and Los Angeles County. The two urban search and rescue (USAR) teams  have been activated and are gathering personnel and equipment.

VA Fairfax VATF1 patchAccording to USAID, the USAR teams have as many as 72 personnel, 6 search and rescue canines and up to 48 tons of rescue equipment.

Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department spokesman Dan Schmidt tells STATter911.com that as of 10:30 PM EST flight arrangements have not been finalized. Approximately ninety-percent of the 72-member team is made up of county firefighters. Civilian doctors, structural engineers and canine handlers are also part of the team.

The firefighters are at the department’s training academy loading the team’s 90,000 pounds of equipment.

The department, as it has in the past, will set up its family support group to keep relatives notified of the team’s location and progress through conference calls and other means.

Members of the Fairfax team have responded to disasters all over the world including two previous trips to Haiti for a school collapse and a hurricane.


Also on STATter911 …

Comments

comments

Powered by Facebook Comments

8 Comments

  1. Jason Low says

    Thoughts are with the teams and all emergency responders working down there. Stay safe and best of luck!

    on January 13, 2010 @ 12:45 am. Reply
  2. Gillian says

    God Bless these crews as they head to Haiti. Head up, eyes open and return home safe.

    on January 13, 2010 @ 8:31 am. Reply
  3. Brian says

    Godspeed & stay safe. Make us all proud. You guys are going because you are the best of the best!

    on January 13, 2010 @ 8:55 am. Reply
  4. Texas Gordo says

    Gentlemen and Ladies,

    Thank you. I love that this nation sends its best to any and all parts of the world in a time of crisis. Thank you for being such wonderful representatives of what makes this nation so great, and why my family and I are so grateful to live here.

    G-d’s speed to all of you,

    - A very proud Texan

    on January 13, 2010 @ 9:25 am. Reply
  5. Bull WFFD says

    Good luck crews, do what you do best. Our prayers are with you.

    on January 13, 2010 @ 11:38 am. Reply

Some HTML is OK

or, reply to this post via trackback.

Continuing the Discussion

  1. Fairfax County & Los Angeles USAR teams to Haiti. Firefighters are gathering for earthquake response. | STATter911.com | VAFireNews.com – Fire & EMS News linked to this post

    [...] Continue reading… Fairfax County & Los Angeles USAR teams to Haiti. Firefighters are gathering for earthquake resp…. [...]

    on January 12, 2010 @ 10:59 pm.
  2. Tweets that mention Fairfax County & Los Angeles USAR teams to Haiti. Firefighters are gathering for earthquake response. | STATter911.com -- Topsy.com linked to this post

    [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Dave Statter, John Kuczek. John Kuczek said: RT @STATter911: More images & video as Fairfax County firefighters depart for #Haiti. http://tinyurl.com/yhtwpeg #fb [...]

    on January 13, 2010 @ 8:56 am.