First responders across US traveling to help with Hurricane Florence

By FireRescue1 Staff

RALEIGH, N.C. — Responders from several states around the country are heading to the East Coast to help with Hurricane Florence.

According to reports, fire departments from California, Indiana, Texas and Colorado are on their way to Raleigh, as well as other locations, to offer their assistance in any rescue efforts that become necessary in what could become a Category 5 hurricane by the time it makes landfall, according 9News.

Nearly four dozen Colorado Task Force 1 members from all over the state are traveling with rescue boats, generators and medical supplies to aid in search and rescue operations.

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From Indiana, 18 Rapid Response Team members from the South Bend Fire Department are planning to stay in Raleigh for as long as two weeks, according to WSBT.

“The Indiana River Rescue Schools brings in firefighters from all over the nation and from other countries that come here to South Bend to train so now our instructors, all of our instructors and trainers from all these different departments are actually going to put that practice to use and go help other departments on the East Coast,” Capt. Gerard Ellis said.

Task Force 7, an elite group of firefighters from Northern California, is sending its swift-water rescue team to the Carolinas, KCRA reported.

“They’re making good time,” Capt. Keith Wade said. “We’re expecting about a day and a half for them to arrive. They will travel nonstop. With a hurricane, the obvious problem is flooding. Even after the hurricane is done dropping its rain, the floodwaters can be extreme.”

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New Hampshire responders from several cities are also making their way to North Carolina and are traveling with five boats and five other vehicles to assist in swift-water flood rescues.

“I think we all rely on mutual aid, on the local level, but at a national level, the resources just aren’t there when a large destructive force like a hurricane hits and it’s required that we all pitch in,” Bedford Fire Department Deputy Chief Scott Hunter told WMUR.

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Hurricane Florence is expected hit landfall on Thursday or Friday, according to Business Insider.