Information from the Los Angeles County Fire Department at 11 pm PT today:
UPDATE at 2:34 pm PT, March 1
LA County sent us a corrected new release, clarifying that the Task Force is only staged for deployment. The updated news release is below:
==============
LOS ANGELES – March 1, 2010 – California Task Force 2 (CA-TF2), Los Angeles County Fire’s world-class Heavy Rescue Task Force, is staged for possible deployment to Chile to help rescue and recover earthquake victims in Latin America, following a 8.8 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Maule, Chile.
Commanders of the 74-member team received the request from the U.S. Agency for International Development Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID-OFDA), and are currently staging at the Department’s USAR Facility in Pacoima. The team includes two additional search team managers, three physicians, three structural specialists, and six rescue canines.
California Task Force 2 (CA-TF2) is a specially-trained and equipped Urban Search and Rescue Task Force consisting of Los Angeles County Fire Department firefighters and paramedics rescue specialists, emergency room physicians, structural engineers, heavy equipment specialists, canine search dogs and handlers, hazardous materials technicians, communications specialists, and logistics specialists. This unique technical rescue team responds with 70,000 pounds of prepackaged search and rescue tools and medical equipment to conduct around-the-clock search and rescue operations at domestic and international disasters, both natural and man-made.
