9/8/19 Kansas Task Force 1 returns home after assisting with Hurricane Dorian response
TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) - Monday night, Kansas Task Force 1 left the Sunflower State to assist with Hurricane Dorian response efforts.
"This is kind of like, you know you spend a lot of time practicing for a big game, and then you finally get called,” Dirk Christian, chief of the Emergency Response Division for the Kansas State Fire Marshall’s Office, said.
Tuesday morning, the team arrived in Jacksonville, Florida.
"We were there really about a day and a half,” Christian said.
That's when the Kansas Task Force 1 got their next assignment.
As the storm moved north, so did the team — first to Raleigh, North Carolina, then to Plymouth on Friday.
"We actually provided medical support to an emergency shelter that was set up in Plymouth at one of the elementary schools,” Christian said.
The crew was demobilized Saturday morning, hitting the road back home where they arrived Sunday evening.
“The deployment in itself was an extremely priceless experience for an urban search and rescue task force and for the state search and rescue program,” Christian said.
Now, Christian says, it's back to work — putting together an after-action review and a performance improvement plan for next time.
"We never know when there's going to be a rough day in Kansas or somewhere else, and we've got to be ready to go out the door,” Christian said.
He says whatever missions lie ahead, the team will be ready.
“There's a certain amount of passion that each one of these first responders has for special operations rescue and urban search and rescue, and it's why they all devote so much time and energy to training, and to be operationally ready to go, whether it's a tornado in Kansas or an out-of-state call and request for assistance,” he said.
Christian says the team had no accidents, no injuries, and no maintenance issues while deployed.
Over the course of seven days, the team, comprised of 42 first responders from nine agencies, traveled more than 3,400 miles and convoyed through 12 states.
