CA-TF2: LACFD USAR RESPONDING TO CHILE

Monday, March 1, 2010

CA-TF2: LACFD USAR RESPONDING TO CHILE

LOS ANGELES COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT USAR NEWS

CALIFORNIA TASK FORCE 2 mobilizes to AID CHILEAN EARTHQUAKE VICTIMS

      LOS ANGELES – March 1, 2010 – California Task Force 2 (CA-TF2), Los Angeles County Fire’s world-class Heavy Rescue Task Force, has been mobilized for deployment to Chile to help rescue and recover earthquake victims in Latin America, following a 8.8 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Maule, Chili.
      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 rescue team managers, three physicians, three structural specialists, and six rescue canines. In addition, eight USAID members will accompany the team to Chile.
      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 55,000 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.
        The Los Angeles County Fire Department is one of the largest emergency service agencies in the world, providing fire protection and life safety services to more than 3.8 million residents and commercial business customers in the County’s 2,305-square-mile area, and around the globe when needed. For more information, visit the Department’s website at www.fire.lacounty.gov.

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How fires get their names

Every year in California thousands of wildfires start throughout the state. In most cases, the dispatch center sending the initial resources to a wildland fire will designate a name for the fire, but the first on scene engine or fire official can also name the incident. Fires are usually named for the area in which they start – a geographical location, local landmark, street, lake, mountain, peak, etc. Quickly naming the fire provides responding fire resources with an additional locater, and allows fire officials to track and prioritize incidents by name. For example during the Southern California Fire Siege of 2003, the largest wildland fire in California history, the Cedar Fire in San Diego County, was named after the Cedar Creek Falls area where it started. The destructive Old Fire, which burned during the same time period in San Bernardino County, was named after the road along which it started - Old Waterman Canyon Road.

CAL FIRE is the largest fire department in California and the second largest fire department in the United States. CDF - CAL FIRE Firefighters answer the call more than 300,000 times a year. CAL FIRE Firefighters make up the fire department for 30 of our 58 counties in California and more than 100 local communities. We serve as the incident command during many of California’s most serious disasters. CAL FIRE Firefighters respond to many various types and forms of calls ranging from structural fires, to auto accidents, to earthquakes, to floods, to the spilling of hazardous materials, to every conceivable disaster; CAL FIRE answer's the calls. CAL FIRE is the largest fire department in California and the second largest fire department in the United States . CAL FIRE firefighters protect 33 million acres of State Responsibility Area (SRA). We have over 4,000 members within CAL FIRE and CAL FIRE is associated with the California Professional Firefighters (CPF) and the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF).

CFN - CALIFORNIA FIRE NEWS - CAL FIRE NEWS

Monday, March 1, 2010