Jefferson City firefighters were among the first wave of the emergency response to Hurricane Ida, and the information they gathered as part of Missouri Task Force 1 Urban Search and Rescue Team is being used to help with continued recovery efforts in Louisiana.
The task force is a division of the Boone County Fire Protection District, which is made of emergency response personnel from various agencies that can be deployed to help at natural and man-made disasters across the country.
Among those who went was Fire Chief Matt Schofield, who has been part of the task force for almost 25 years and was given the opportunity to deploy to multiple disasters.
Serving as the task force leader, Schofield provided overall leadership to the 80-member team and interfaced with state and local officials.
"Above all, my job was to make sure the team was supported to achieve the objectives of our mission," he said.
To ensure 80 people can deploy at any given time, federal requirements mandate each position be staffed three deep. In total, 210 people are necessary to properly staff the task force. These people fill 18 separate and distinct job functions, ranging from canine search specialist to physicians to rescue specialists and heavy equipment operators.
This was the eighth deployment for JCFD Fire Capt. Casey Hughes. As a rescue squad officer, Hughes was assigned a six-person crew (along with two Drug Enforcement Agency agents for protection).
"Our initial tasks were to prepare for water rescue as two boat crews. But if those weren't needed, we would operate as a ground-based search and recovery unit," Hughes said. "Along with getting tools and equipment ready, we also prepared two different forms of GPS navigation devices in order to both map out and document our locations. This helps prevent an overlap in areas we search. We can then mark victim locations and structural damage as we come across them."
JCFD driver Michael Bainbridge was on his second deployment, having first deployed to Hurricane Delta last October. He served as a haz-mat specialist team member, tasked with checking air quality 24/7 to make sure it was safe for the rest of the team to operate while at their base of operations.
"Once we are out in the field, we are assigned to a rescue squad," Bainbridge said. "We continue to monitor air quality with the gas monitors and have other tools like radiation detectors to make sure it's safe to operate. We want to make sure our team and the public don't come across an environment that's immediately dangerous to life or health."
Bainbridge's group was also responsible for decontamination efforts.
"We were assigned to decontaminate the members of the team and the equipment used while out in the field," Bainbridge said. "This includes boats and vehicles. The potential is very high after a hurricane to come across unknown substances that is harmful to the team and the equipment. We don't want to bring potentially harmful substances back to our base and other team members."
Serving on his first deployment was JCFD firefighter Pete Stoops, who was assigned to drive vehicles and ground support, which included driving trucks and trailers with equipment down to Louisiana. He also helped set up basic infrastructure for the task force base of operations, such as generators for lighting and communication.
"Yes, the damage was extensive," Stoops said. "I have seen what a tornado can do to a city like Jefferson City. But seeing how widespread a hurricane's path can be was surprising."
Hughes said there was quite a distance from the task force base of operations to the more affected areas. While en route to their assignments, they noticed heavy wind damage along the way, mostly in the form of downed trees and power lines, and structural damage.
"It was widespread, and this greatly affected our routing as we traveled closer to our assignments," Hughes said.
For Schofield, who has responded to multiple disasters including 9/11, Ida brought a few surprises.
"There was more wind damage, but less water damage than we observed at Hurricane Katrina," Schofield said. "In the areas we worked, the mitigation efforts appeared to have a positive effect on controlling flood waters and storm surge."
Bainbridge added: "I anticipated that we would come across some damage similar to what we experienced with the 2019 tornado here in Jefferson City. But what I was most surprised with was the widespread damage/flooding and power outages that occurred with Hurricane Ida.
"You think you have an idea, but until you see it first hand, you are surprised at what a hurricane is capable of doing," he said
Schofield and the rest of the JCFD members said the training they have done had prepared them for the duty.
"The technical rescue training we receive produces skilled operators able to hold their own with the very best in the nation and simultaneously produces better firefighters here at home in Jefferson City," Schofield said.
"I joined the task force about two years ago and part of everyone's training is setting up a base of operations," Stoops said. "I am glad this training was still fresh in my mind because it came in handy."
"Every year, we are responsible to complete training requirements for the discipline you are assigned to," Bainbridge said. "The team makes sure we are physically prepared as well. Once completed, you are deployable."
Hughes added: "We train for all of what we encountered and then some. I feel that it is this extensive amount of training that gives us a sense of confidence in knowing that we are very well prepared and very well equipped."