Fairfax County Fire Department Not Missing a Beat With 72 Members in Japan

With 72 of their firefighters deployed to Japan as part of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) search and rescue team, Fairfax County Fire and Rescue has not had to cut back on service.

Monday, fire and rescue spokesman Dan Schmidt said the agency has the vacated shifts being filled by the remaining firefighters. The county is operating with a minimum number of firefighters on some apparatus.

“There’s no loss of emergency services,” Schmidt said. “There’s a minimum number of people we can operate with and that’s what we’re doing in some cases.”

Schmidt said the team could be gone for as long as 14 days. He said the team is operating under the direction of the Federal government and not the county. The county is not paying for services the team is rendering in Japan, which is being covered by USAID, Schmidt said. The 72-member team was picked across the board amongst the county’s fire and rescue department, Schmidt said.

USAID sent more than 140 people into Japan following an earthquake and tsunami to search for people who may have been trapped under rubble and debris. The group of rescuers also includes four members with nuclear expertise from the U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), according to USAID. 

According to USAID, the Urban Search and Rescue team arrived at Misawa Air Base in Japan on Sunday with 12 search dogs and 45 tons of equipment. The 72 Fairfax County firefighters were called up Friday just after noon. Schmidt said the men and women who ventured to Japan have the full support of their colleagues at home.

“What’s good about it is the other guys step up,” Schmidt said. “We’re a team. When we have to pull together we get it done.”

Dranesville Supervisor John Foust is sending along updates from the Fairfax County Urban Search and Rescue Team which is now setting operations to help rescue survivors of the earthquake and tsunami that have broken parts of the northern end of the island nation.

The following is an update for the Fairfax County Urban Search and Rescue Team, Virginia Task Force One (VATF-1) which has deployed  as part of  the   U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and the Office Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) response to Japan to assist in the response to the earthquake and Tsunami.  
 
VATF-1 departed Misawa Air Base in Northern Japan at 9:15 P.M. EDT on  Sunday, March 13th.  The team was stationed at Misawa Air Base with the U.K. Heavy Team as well as the Australian Heavy Team. The teams' cache of equipment was currently with them. 

VATF-1 departed Misawa Air Base for the town of Ofunato, Japan (Iwate Prefecture) which is 120 miles south of Misawa.  Ofunato is a seaport town which is 125 square miles in size and is 6 hours south (driving time) of Misawa with an approximate population of 41,000. VATF-1 will be traveling with Los Angeles, CATF-2 and the mode of travel will be a combination of ground, and helicopter for the team members and the cache. 

The team arrived at Sumita, Japan at 6:00 A.M. EDT on Monday, March 14th.  It is here in Sumita, where the team will be setting up its Base of Operations (BOO).  Being this was night time in Japan, the team was bedded down to rest for the upcoming daytime operations.  At 5:15 P.M. EDT on Monday, March 14th, one-half of the team initiated recon operations in the town of Ofunato, and at 7:00 P.M. EDT the set-up of the BOO was completed and the remaining team members joined the others in search and rescue efforts.  Currently the three Heavy Teams are conducting a grid search of the mission area.  Damage is described as severe with large amounts of rubble similar to a hurricane.
 
Communication within Japan is still limited with our communications with the team limited to satellite phones and some email.  The Task Force leaders are working with the local fire service and continuing to formulate their search and rescue plans. 

The team is continuing to monitor the surrounding conditions in Japan and are reporting no increase in radiation levels at their location.  The team members reported some aftershocks with no damage or issues and they remain well rested and in good spirits.

Keith Johnson, Deputy Chief Keith H. Johnson, Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department.

See a of the team in Japan.