Hurricane Matthew: Fairfax County Sending First Responders to Florida to Help

FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA -- Fairfax County's Virginia Task Force 1 is preparing to deploy to Florida to help with any rescue operations needed related to Hurricane Matthew, Fire Chief Richard Bowers, Jr. announced Thursday. "We're taking all the resources we need for the next seven to 10 days," Bowers said in a video posted on the department's Twitter account.

About 80 members are being deployed Thursday to Florida to assist with the aftermath of the hurricane, according to fire department spokeswoman Ashley Hildebrandt. With the exception of canine search specialists, physicians, structural specialists and rigging specialists, all members of the task force come from the ranks of the Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department.

The Category 4 hurricane is tracking Thursday toward Florida's eastern coast and more than 1 million residents in its path have been ordered to evacuate. The Fairfax County team is headed to Lakeland, Fla., located in the state's central area:

Established in 1986 as a domestic and international disaster response resource, sponsored by the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department, Virginia Task Force 1 is rostered by approximately 200 specially trained career and volunteer fire and rescue personnel, with expertise in the rescue of victims from collapsed structures, following a natural or man-made catastrophic event.

The team is comprised of emergency managers and planners, physicians and paramedics and includes specialists in the fields of structural engineering, heavy rigging, collapse rescue, logistics, hazardous materials, communications, canine and technical search.

Virginia Task Force 1 has partnerships with the Department of Homeland Security/Federal Emergency Management Agency for domestic response and the United States Agency for International Development/Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance during international missions. As a part of the Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department, the task force maintains constant operational readiness as a local resource for residents of Fairfax County and surrounding jurisdictions.

The fire department posted some of the preparations Thursday, packing up trucks to drive down to Florida:

PHOTOS courtesy of Fairfax County Fire & Rescue