UPDATE (WMAL) – Fairfax County Assistant Fire Chief Chuck Ryan announced Wednesday afternoon that VA Task Force 1 rescued an elderly and critically ill woman who was trapped in her house in St. Thomas.
“That’s a great win for our team,” Ryan said in a video posted on the fire department’s Twitter page.
FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) – An elite search and rescue team from Virginia is providing support all along the path of Hurricane Irma.
Chuck Ryan, an assistant chief with Fairfax County Fire and Rescue, said Wednesday that members of the county’s Urban Search and Rescue Team are now spread out across Puerto Rico, St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Florida Keys.
The 80-member team, also known as Virginia Task Force 1, deployed Wednesday after being activated by the Federal Emergency Management Administration.
Ryan said team members are conducting searches in locations where it is most likely to find stranded survivors.
The team includes swift-water rescue specialists, canine units and other search-and-rescue resources.
VA-TF1 members traveled via air & boat to St. John Island where they will continue search and rescue operations. #hurricaneirma @fema pic.twitter.com/DmxLO9bLjv
— VA-TF1 / USA-1 (@VATF1) September 13, 2017
Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. (PHOTO: FEMA/FFX Fire and Rescue)
