The Los Angeles County Fire Department is sending 78 members of their Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) team to Turkey after the country experienced devastating earthquakes Monday, the department announced in a news release.
At the request of the Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance (BHA), the fire department is sending the USAR team, known as USA-2, and an additional seven personnel members to assist operations, they said.
The team will depart Monday evening and may be deployed for two weeks or longer, the department said.
“This USAR team is the best of the best and will be instrumental in saving lives and rescuing people who continue to be stuck under rubble,” said Kathryn Barger, Los Angeles County fifth district supervisor, in a release.
The USAR team includes rescue specialists, physicians, K-9 search teams and structural engineers who have spent a lot of time training for these events, Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said during a news conference Monday evening.
“This team is highly skilled and elite in urban search and rescue and is specially trained to assist in rescue efforts, especially in earthquakes like the one that just struck central or southeast Turkey,” Marrone said.
One of the team’s biggest concerns is how they are going to be able to get to the areas in Turkey that need help after so much infrastructure collapsed during the quake, North Region Deputy Fire Chief Tom Ewald said. The United States Agency for International Development is currently working on those logistics, he added.
The Los Angeles USAR team will be joined by the Virginia Task Force 1, which is sending a crew of 79 members and six dogs to Turkey, the team tweeted on Monday.