Local team deploys to flood-weary Texas

Known as California Task Force 3, the Bay Area-based crew is comprised of emergency responders from local fire departments who deploy to state and national crises, said Schapelhouman, one of the 28 sponsoring agency chiefs who FEMA called upon over the weekend to send rescue crews to the disaster zone.

“They’ll get there and hopefully get put in the worst spots,” Schapelhouman said while acknowledging that’s a sentiment unusual to most. “This is an extremely highly-trained team with incredible capability; so put them in the worst spot because that’s what they’re built to do and what they want to do. They want to go where they can make the most difference.”

He anticipates the group, made up of those who dropped whatever they were doing to depart Sunday night, will be there for one to three weeks.

“As long as there’s water they can motor [boat] through or get [helicoptered] into, it’s worth this type of operation. Once they can drive, they don’t need these guys anymore,” Schapelhouman said.

Made up of firefighters from departments with Menlo Park, Central San Mateo County, San Mateo, South San Francisco, Palo Alto and San Jose; the five-car caravan was expected to arrive at a mobilization center in Austin early Tuesday morning. From there, they’ll be assigned and dispatched on various missions as Houston and coastal regions are bombarded with rainfall and experience extreme flooding, Schapelhouman said.

Having received calls from Texas where some were surprised to see crews with California insignia, Schapelhouman said people recognize the national response building behind Houston.

“People I think really appreciate seeing not just their own first responders, and not just converging volunteers, but also understanding there’s a network of people who are coming to help them that are from places all across the country,” Schapelhouman said.

The Menlo Park chief has firsthand experience having himself responded to Katrina, the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 and the Oklahoma City bombing. The veteran firefighter said he believes the federal government and emergency crews are working well in their coordinated efforts to support Texas, particularly as FEMA, the White House and federal representatives insist financial aid will be made available to assist afflicted communities.

While government is typically slow moving, he said bridging the first-responder mentality with FEMA’s resources allows them to be well poised to make a difference.

“It’s bringing to bear the full power of the federal government with the federal checkbook, and first responders who live day to day where every second matters. That’s a powerful combination,” Schapelhouman said. “Some of the organizational chaos we saw in Katrina won’t be duplicated, although these events like this, based on the size, there are always failures and mistakes that can be corrected.”

National disaster response builds upon lessons learned. Sparked by FEMA’s criticized response to Katrina, the 28 national task forces have all been provided water rescue equipment and commensurate training that will now be used in Houston. Prior to that, decontamination equipment stemming from the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 was used four years later in New Orleans, Schapelhouman said.

“We started this program [with FEMA] in 1990,” Schapelhouman said. “The task forces are typically created to respond to earthquakes, hurricanes and, later on, terrorism events. Every event has added training and equipment and security [protocol].”

One area in which he’s hoping to see improvements since Katrina is in the aerial response to Houston’s flood-affected communities. Gaining a bird’s-eye view is critical and, aside from helicopter crews that will ideally be dispatched as soon as weather permits, new technology is also proving resourceful. The local task force will bring with them three drones and highly-trained operators, Schapelhouman said.

“I’m excited to hear if they’re going to be able to integrate that, which I would have loved to have during Katrina, to see over the horizon, map things much more accurately and execute [responses] much more cleanly,” Schapelhouman said.

Some of those deployed with the Bay Area’s team this weekend offer disaster experience having worked Katrina, this year’s response to the Oroville Dam and flooding rescues along San Jose’s Coyote Creek. As they venture east, they’ve brought five vehicles, 10 boats and generators. California-based FEMA teams from Los Angeles, Riverside, Sacramento and Menlo Park were all dispatched Sunday.

The federal government reimburses fire departments for sending responders, as well as for having to backfill their absences at home. Schapelhouman said the eight FEMA task force teams from California have been weighing needs at home, including maintaining reserves for statewide mutual aid missions as wildfire season heats up.

“All of this is about balancing,” he said.

Preserving service in the community is paramount, and Schapelhouman said they’re currently on a mandatory work policy meaning firefighters must be available for overtime or cancel vacations if called upon to fill in at home.

“At the end of the day doing this is a sacrifice but there’s also a huge payback,” Schapelhouman said. “These events, they’re a way of giving back, they’re a way of serving a broader community other than your own, but also representing the community that you come from.”

samantha@smdailyjournal.com

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