PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A convoy of trucks and buses loaded up at the Pennsylvania Task Force 1 Command Center in Northeast Philadelphia on Wednesday.
45 members of Task Force 1 are heading for South Carolina, where these highly-trained emergency workers are expecting to provide water rescues and other assistance to victims of Hurricane Ian.
“These are very specialized and very expensive capabilities to maintain, so not every community across the US can maintain these capabilities,” said Philadelphia Fire Commissioner Adam Thiel. He explained it’s one of 28 Special Operations Centers across the country co-sponsored by FEMA and the local agency.
“We’re the sponsoring agency, the Philadelphia Fire Department, and that's essentially the way the system is designed, to surge resources to places that need help.”
Thiel said they also bring equipment to sustain themselves like tents, food and communication devices, and much more.
“Boats, motors, personal floatation devices, rafts of different kinds, all different types of rope equipment, dry suits, wetsuits,” said Thiel.
“So they don't burden that local community with basically more mouths to feed when those communities, by definition, need help.”
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“We know that we're going into a devastated community, so we take everything that we're going to need to be self-sustained for up to 72 hours,” added Deputy Chief Carl Randolph.
They'll be able to stay on the rescue mission for two weeks and maybe even more when they meet up with another unit that's already there.
Task force member Brian Scott is among those heading to South Carolina.
“The way it's hitting might be like a category 5,” said Scott about the storm. “I've witnessed one of those before and it was complete devastation.”
He said the most dangerous aspect of what they face involved fast-moving water.
“We do a lot of swift water rescue with our boats,” he said. “Moving water is very very, very dangerous.”
Lt. Squad Officer Lamar Wheeler of Philadelphia said it's not just the water that can be dangerous, but what's in it.
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“Alligators, snakes, sometimes just household pets,” he said.
Wheeler further explained what it's like to leave his family for this mission.
“It is really spur of the moment, so I just have to text and call,” said Wheeler.
When asked what his family is most concerned about, he said, “Me coming back safe.”
Crew members come from all across the state. Thiel added there are backup crews to cover emergency workers from the Philadelphia area, so they’re not left shorthanded for local emergencies.