Missouri Task Force 1 awaiting assignment in Texas
A 47-member crew with the Missouri Task Force 1 is expected to arrive in San Antonio, Texas around 10 p.m. Friday to assist with Hurricane Harvey, said Assistant Chief Gale Blomenkamp with the Boone County Fire Protection District.
Blomenkamp said crews will then wait for assignment after the hurricane makes landfall.
“We’ll be able to come in from either the west or the east depending on the need,” he said. “As soon as that thing makes landfall and clears, Missouri Task Force 1 will be moved in.”
Blomenkamp said their help will likely be along the Texas coast between Houston and Brownsville.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency activated the task force Thursday night. Crews left the Boone County Fire Protection District headquarters in Columbia around 2 a.m.
The Missouri Task Force 1 is traveling with 100,000 pounds of equipment for water rescues, which Blomenkamp said most of their work will include.
“When people evacuate, obviously the rescues are minimal,” he said. “When people decide to stay in place then those are usually the people we’re picking off of roofs or out of trees.”
“Our purpose of going to Texas is to assist the citizens in the impact areas as needed,” said Rand Sanders, who is leading the task force deployment. “Whether it is water rescues, wide area searches, building collapses or humanitarian efforts our members are ready to go.”
ABC 17 News will continue to follow the developments of Hurricane Harvey and the efforts by the Missouri Task Force 1 with live coverage from Texas beginning Saturday evening.
