Urban search and rescue gets boost: Kevin Mullin, D-South San Francisco, announces $56M funding, one of 28 task forces based out of Menlo Park, East Palo Alto

One of those California deployment groups, Task Force 3, is local to San Mateo County. Headed by the Menlo Park Fire Protection District and made up of emergency personnel from local fire departments, it’s an integral part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s response to disaster. 

“Most of us are fortunate to not be thinking day in and day out about what would happen during a large-scale national disaster, but the truth is, it could happen to anyone, anywhere, at any given moment,” Mullin said. “This mutual aid system is America at its best.” 

The funding, which is a $15 million increase for the program, was included as part of a congressional funding package for the Department of Homeland Security that had stalled over debate around federal immigration enforcement but passed and signed by the president last week. 

The effort to fund the Urban Search and Rescue program was bipartisan, speakers during the May 7 press conference emphasized, and was driven by budgetary concerns from the task forces. 

“We have been struggling for over a decade to make ends meet, as have the other 27 task forces,” Menlo Park Fire Protection Chief Mark Lorenzen said. 

At any given time, members of the task forces are prepared to deploy to states across the nation, Lorenzen said.

“I cannot overemphasize the importance of these 28 task forces,” he said. “They are there at the ready, each and every day, to respond to emergencies that we don’t even know are coming yet. It creates such a resilient structure.” 

The federal funding increase will ensure that local agencies who contribute resources and personnel to the task force efforts will not have to decide between local and nationwide readiness, Virginia Chang Kiraly, Menlo Park Fire Protection District board president, said. 

“We are proud to be able to provide aid and assistance to our fellow Americans when we are called to do so,” she said. “This additional funding will only strengthen our administrative teams’ readiness and operations so that deployment can happen at a moment’s notice, without compromising emergency response services locally.”