MIAMI (WSVN) - The City of Miami will be sending members of the Miami Fire Rescue Department to the Bahamas to assist in search and rescue efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian.
The federal government did not approve of Miami sending their Urban Search and Rescue team to the islands because US&R teams from other states are already there, so they’ll be sending a team of Miami firefighters trained in search and rescue as a means of cutting through the red tape.
“These are US&R team members trained in search and rescue that will be wearing a City of Miami Fire Department uniform, so they will be sent as City of Miami firefighters,” Miami Fire Rescue Chief Joseph Zahralban explained in a press conference, “and the transition, if it moves to Urban Search and Rescue response, the transition is easy because it is many of the same people.”
Eight of the firefighters left with the Coast Guard Thursday morning, and the city will be sending up to 42 other firefighters to the Bahamas over the next few days.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.