Urban Search and Rescue Virginia Task Force 1
Encyclopedia
Urban Search and Rescue Virginia Task Force 1 or VA-TF1 is a FEMA Urban Search and Rescue Task Force
based in Fairfax County, Virginia
. VA-TF1 is sponsored by the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department
.
Established in 1986 as a domestic and international disaster response resource, sponsored by the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department
, Virginia Task Force 1 is rostered by approximately 200 specially trained career and volunteer fire and rescue personnel, with expertise in the rescue of victims from collapsed structures, following a natural disaster or terrorist attack.
The team is composed of emergency managers and planners, physicians and paramedics and includes specialists in the fields of structural engineering, heavy rigging, collapse rescue, logistics, hazardous materials, communications, canine and technical search.
Virginia Task Force 1 has partnerships with the Department of Homeland Security/Federal Emergency Management Agency for domestic response and the United States Agency for International Development
’s Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance
to provide international response to natural and man-made disasters. As a part of the Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department, the task force maintains constant operational readiness as a local resource for residents of Fairfax County and surrounding jurisdictions.
FEMA Urban Search and Rescue Task Force
thumb|Members of FEMA US&R Task Force at [[World Trade Center]] after the 9/11 attacks.A FEMA Urban Search and Rescue Task Force is a team of individuals specializing in urban search and rescue, disaster recovery, and emergency triage and medicine. The teams are deployed to emergency and disaster...
based in Fairfax County, Virginia
Fairfax County, Virginia
Fairfax County is a county in Virginia, in the United States. Per the 2010 Census, the population of the county is 1,081,726, making it the most populous jurisdiction in the Commonwealth of Virginia, with 13.5% of Virginia's population...
. VA-TF1 is sponsored by the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department
Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department
The Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department is a combination career and volunteer organization that provides fire suppression, emergency medical, technical rescue, hazardous materials, water rescue, life safety education, fire prevention and arson investigation services to Fairfax County, Virginia...
.
Established in 1986 as a domestic and international disaster response resource, sponsored by the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department
Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department
The Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department is a combination career and volunteer organization that provides fire suppression, emergency medical, technical rescue, hazardous materials, water rescue, life safety education, fire prevention and arson investigation services to Fairfax County, Virginia...
, Virginia Task Force 1 is rostered by approximately 200 specially trained career and volunteer fire and rescue personnel, with expertise in the rescue of victims from collapsed structures, following a natural disaster or terrorist attack.
The team is composed of emergency managers and planners, physicians and paramedics and includes specialists in the fields of structural engineering, heavy rigging, collapse rescue, logistics, hazardous materials, communications, canine and technical search.
Virginia Task Force 1 has partnerships with the Department of Homeland Security/Federal Emergency Management Agency for domestic response and the United States Agency for International Development
United States Agency for International Development
The United States Agency for International Development is the United States federal government agency primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid. President John F. Kennedy created USAID in 1961 by executive order to implement development assistance programs in the areas...
’s Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance
Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance
The Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance is an organizational unit within the U.S. Agency for International Development that has delegated responsible for directing and coordinating U.S. Government relief assistance overseas. Within USAID, OFDA resides within Bureau of Democracy, Conflict,...
to provide international response to natural and man-made disasters. As a part of the Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department, the task force maintains constant operational readiness as a local resource for residents of Fairfax County and surrounding jurisdictions.
Deployment
- August 2011 Hurricane IreneHurricane Irene (2011)Hurricane Irene was a large and powerful Atlantic hurricane that left extensive flood and wind damage along its path through the Caribbean, the United States East Coast and as far north as Atlantic Canada in 2011...
- March 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunamiThe 2011 earthquake off the Pacific coast of Tohoku, also known as the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, or the Great East Japan Earthquake, was a magnitude 9.0 undersea megathrust earthquake off the coast of Japan that occurred at 14:46 JST on Friday, 11 March 2011, with the epicenter approximately east...
- January 2010 Port-au-Prince, Haiti earthquake2010 Haiti earthquakeThe 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake, with an epicentre near the town of Léogâne, approximately west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital. The earthquake occurred at 16:53 local time on Tuesday, 12 January 2010.By 24 January, at least 52 aftershocks...
- November 2008 Panama Flooding
- September 2008 Hurricane HannaHurricane Hanna (2008)Hurricane Hanna was the deadliest storm of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season. The storm was the eighth tropical cyclone and fourth hurricane of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season. It formed east-northeast of the northern Leeward Islands on August 28...
: Haiti
- May 2008 Sichuan earthquake2008 Sichuan earthquakeThe 2008 Sichuan earthquake or the Great Sichuan Earthquake was a deadly earthquake that measured at 8.0 Msand 7.9 Mw occurred at 14:28:01 CST...
, China
- May 2008 Cyclone NargisCyclone NargisCyclone Nargis , was a strong tropical cyclone that caused the worst natural disaster in the recorded history of Burma. The cyclone made landfall in Burma on Friday, May 2, 2008, causing catastrophic destruction and at least 138,000 fatalities...
, Burma
- February 2008 Bolivian floods
- September 2007 Hurricane FelixHurricane FelixThe name Felix was used for four tropical cyclones in the Atlantic Ocean.* 1989's Hurricane Felix - A Category 1 storm that dissipated in the Atlantic without threatening land....
, Honduras
- August 2007 Peru Earthquake2007 Peru earthquakeThe 2007 Peru earthquake was an earthquake measuring 8.0 on the moment magnitude scale that hit the central coast of Peru on Wednesday, August 15, 2007; it occurred at 23:40:57 UTC and lasted for about three minutes...
- August 2006: Hurricane ErnestoHurricane ErnestoThe name Ernesto has been used for five tropical cyclones in the Atlantic Ocean.* 1982's Tropical Storm Ernesto - formed from a tropical depression southwest of Bermuda, tracked northeast for two days before dissipating without threatening land....
- October 2005 South Asia/Pakistan Earthquake2005 Kashmir earthquakeThe 2005 Kashmir earthquake was a major earthquake centered in Pakistan-administered Kashmir known as Azad Kashmir, near the city of Muzaffarabad, affecting Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It occurred at 08:52:37 Pakistan Standard Time on 8 October 2005...
- January 2005 Indonesia Tsunami
- February 2004 Earthquake in Al-Hoceima, Morocco2004 Morocco earthquakeThe 2004 Morocco earthquake, at a magnitude 6.4Mw, occurred on 24 February 2004 near the coast of northern Morocco.At least 628 people were killed, 926 injured, 2,539 homes destroyed and more than 15,000 people homeless in the Al Hoceima-Imzourene-Beni Abdallah area, Morocco. Maximum intensity IX...
- December 2003 Earthquake in Bam, Iran2003 Bam earthquakeThe 2003 Bam earthquake was a major earthquake that struck Bam and the surroundingKerman province of southeastern Iran at 1:56 AM UTC on Friday, December 26, 2003. The most widely accepted estimate for the magnitude of the earthquake is a moment magnitude of 6.6; estimated by the United...
- October 2002 Danube River Flooding, Czech Republic
- World Trade Center and Pentagon attacksSeptember 11, 2001 attacksThe September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
, New York, New York and Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
- September 11, 2001
- March 2000 Flooding in Maputo, Mozambique2000 Mozambique floodThe 2000 Mozambique flood was a natural disaster that occurred in February and March 2000. The catastrophic flooding was caused by heavy rainfall that lasted for five weeks and made many homeless. Approximately 800 people were killed. 1,400 km² of arable land was affected and 20,000 head of...
- October 1999 Earthquake in Düzce, Turkey
- September 1999 Earthquake in Touliu, Taiwan921 earthquakeThe 921 earthquake , also known as Jiji earthquake , was a 7.3 Ms or 7.6 Mw earthquake which occurred at 1:47:12 am local time in Jiji , Nantou County, Taiwan. 2,415 people were killed, 11,305 injured, and NT$300 billion worth of damage was done...
- July 1998 Terrorist Bombing1998 United States embassy bombingsThe 1998 United States embassy bombings were a series of attacks that occurred on August 7, 1998, in which hundreds of people were killed in simultaneous truck bomb explosions at the United States embassies in the East African capitals of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya. The date of the...
, Nairobi Kenya
- July 1998 Balkan Food Drop in Pescara, Italy
- Oklahoma City bombingOklahoma City bombingThe Oklahoma City bombing was a terrorist bomb attack on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995. It was the most destructive act of terrorism on American soil until the September 11, 2001 attacks. The Oklahoma blast claimed 168 lives, including 19...
, Oklahoma City, OklahomaOklahoma City, OklahomaOklahoma City is the capital and the largest city in the state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, the city ranks 31st among United States cities in population. The city's population, from the 2010 census, was 579,999, with a metro-area population of 1,252,987 . In 2010, the Oklahoma...
- April 19, 1995
- July 1990 Earthquake Baguio, The Philippines1990 Luzon earthquakeThe Luzon earthquake occurred on Monday, July 16, 1990, at 4:26 PM local time in the Philippines. The densely populated island of Luzon was struck by an earthquake with a 7.8 Ms...
- December 1988 Earthquake Armenia, USSR Earthquake