Photo of the Week: U.S. sends elite USAR team to help in Turkey
USA-01 filled a plane with its crewmembers, equipment and dogs
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FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. — USA-01 Heavy USAR team members flew to Turkey this week to assist in search-and-rescue operations after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake slammed Turkey and Syria and killed more than 22,000 people.
Virginia Task Force 1 includes, “emergency managers and planners, physicians and paramedics and includes specialists in the fields of structural engineering, heavy rigging, collapse rescue, logistics, hazardous materials, communications, canine and technical search,” according to its website.
USA-2, which is made up of Los Angeles County Fire Department Urban Search and Rescue team members, also was deployed.
Survivors were still being found Friday.

USA-01 Heavy USAR team members are in the air enroute to #Türkiye as a part of the @USAIDSavesLives Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART).#TurkeyEarthquake@ffxfirerescue@USAID pic.twitter.com/jMWDC429mL
— VA-TF1 / USA-1 - Urban Search and Rescue (@VATF1) February 7, 2023