The Regions Urban Search and Rescue Team, California Task Force 7, was activated late last night and they are now on their way to help out with the rescue efforts in Haiti. Firefighters from Fire Agencies in the Sacramento region and some civilians make up the 72 person team. These individuals are highly trained in search and rescue, specifically in building collapses. The team has rescue dogs, Doctors, Nurses, Rescue Specialists and many other highly trained individuals. This team, like every other USAR Team across the nation are able to be fully self sufficient for a minimum of 3 days.

They left their storage facility at McClellan Air Park very early this morning and headed off to Travis AFB to await their flight to Haiti. It is not known at this time how long their deployment will be. They train for these missions constantly and always look forward to being called so that they can serve what ever community needs their help.

This activation was a little bit different than most. Most USAR activations are initiated by FEMA, but this is an International disaster and the orders come from the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance. There are many USAR Teams across the Nation, but only two teams are designated as International Teams, They are Fairfax County, Virginia and Los Angeles County. All other teams can be deployed to respond to international incidents, but the orders have to come from O.F.D.A. Sacramento’s team received these orders along with 5 other USAR Teams.

California Task Force 7 was one of the first on the ground at the World Trade Center on September the 11th, and at the Federal Building in Oklahoma City. They have also responded to numerous Hurricane incidents and other natural disasters.

We at the Sacramento Fire Department are proud of our Firefighters that are on their way to Haiti and we wish them well and hope they are able to save lives and make a difference.