Maryland Task Force in Florida for Hurricane Dorian Relief

Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service sent more than 85 people to Florida on Friday night to help those affected by Hurricane Dorian. 

Last nite (8/30) @MontgomeryCoMD FEMA Maryland Task Force 1 US&R 20+ vehicle caravan departed Rockville warehouse for deployment in Fla…. >80 members heard from @MoCoCouncilMD VP & Public Safety Chairman Sidney Katz @MC_Council_Katz & @mcfrs Fire Chief Scott Goldstein pic.twitter.com/mqovGwFvTm

— Pete Piringer (@mcfrsPIO) August 31, 2019

Maryland Task Force One includes doctors, engineers, specialized civilians, and six dogs.

#HurricaneDorian2019 As part of any disaster response, K9s assigned to @mcfrs MD-TF1 US&R can play an important & critical role. Today, our task force members refined their skills w/ K9 & Medical Specialists & at same time Team Physicians completed joint Orientation w/ the dogs pic.twitter.com/8svGZ442CR

— Pete Piringer (@mcfrsPIO) September 3, 2019

Other members are from fire departments in Montgomery County, as well as in Howard and Prince George’s counties. Maryland Task Force One brought about 20 vehicles, including boats, tractor-trailers, and pickup trucks. Members are trained in heavy concrete rescue and lightweight collapse rescue, according to WTOP. 

FYI – @MontgomeryCoMD based Maryland Task Force 1 (MD-TF1) is one of many @fema US&R resources staged in Florida to support local/regional/state emergency agencies in coordination & under direction of State of Florida & Florida Incident Management Team @FloridaPIOs @MobileJIC1 https://t.co/4UnMYmDgwa

— Pete Piringer (@mcfrsPIO) September 3, 2019

(9/3) FEMA Maryland Task Force 1 is staged in Florida & TF Management are prepared for future operations. Team Leaders in coordination w/ State of Florida resources process information from multiple sources to help @fema support the appropriate response for #HurricaneDorian2019 pic.twitter.com/P4PRQsVbci

— Pete Piringer (@mcfrsPIO) September 3, 2019

The task force will be in Florida for 10 to 14 days. Chief Spokesperson for Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service Pete Piringer said that members monitored Hurricane Dorian to figure out where help is most needed. 

Orlando, Florida, earlier today (9/3) FEMA Maryland Task Force 1 (MD-TF1) continues to monitor storm activity & gathers info in coordination w/ local & State resources in order to determine most need, MD-TF1 is one of several FEMA US&R teams in Florida #HurricaneDorian2019 pic.twitter.com/R8nqEaVTQU

— Pete Piringer (@mcfrsPIO) September 3, 2019

About Maryam Shahzad

Maryam is a reporter with Montgomery Community Media. She graduated from the University of Maryland in 2019 with a bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism. Previously, she was an intern with MCM. She can be reached at mshahzad@mymcmedia.org or on Twitter @maryam_mcm.

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