BROWNSBURG — While Hurricane Fay has caused problems for residents along the Gulf of Mexico and tropical storm Gustav is expected to make a big impact with another storm behind it, eight Brownsburg firefighters are getting ready to head to the center of the storms.
Lt. Ryan Miller, public education and information officer for the Brownsburg Fire Territory, said he and the seven other Brownsburg firefighters are going to help with search and rescue efforts in Louisiana and the Gulf of Mexico as a part of Indiana Task Force One.
“Once the storm goes through, we investigate activities and have to be completely self-sufficient for 72 hours,” Miller said. “We have to bring all our own equipment, rescue equipment, food, radios, literally everything we could need for 72 hours.”
The task force also includes members from Marion County and the surrounding counties, though this is the first time eight Brownsburg firefighters have been sent to an emergency or event.
“We’ve participated for several years,” Miller said. “We’re proud to be able to help with the effort. It’s an exciting opportunity to go and do this.”
While the firefighters are gone, they will have training provided by the federal government, which Miller cites as a good thing for the Town of Brownsburg.
“The beneficial part is that we will have training provided by and paid for by the federal government, and anytime you can get training by them, it’s a benefit,” he said. “They have also approved backfill to fill the positions we’ll leave when we go, but the federal government pays that too, so it’s not costing the taxpayers. We’ll get to help the federal government with a national emergency without leaving our town uncovered.”
The teams go to task force headquarters in Indianapolis where they will load equipment and wait for a deployment call.
“When an individual commits to the task force, they basically have two hours to get the call and get out the door,” Miller said. “Deployment can be up to 10 days at a time, so you basically have two hours to get everything you would need for 10 days because when you get that call, it’s time to go.”
The task force is a part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Urban Search & Rescue Task Force, which are under the Department of Homeland Security.
Miller said there are 28 teams scattered across the United States that respond to emergencies.
“The only time all 28 teams responded at once was to the World Trade Center on 9/11; that’s never happened before, but the task force could get called out for any federal emergency or high risk event, like the Democratic National Convention this week or any really big event like the Superbowl,” Miller said.
Brownsburg Fire Territory Chief Oran True said Indiana is sending 80 firefighters to Louisiana and he’s proud that 10 percent of them are coming from Brownsburg.
“They’re representing Hendricks County, the Fire Territory and the Town of Brownsburg,” True said. “They’re saving people’s lives and property and are protecting people in the south against a national disaster. They have a part in the healing process.”
charlee.beasor@flyergroup.com
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