The Fairfax County, Virginia-based urban search and rescue team returned home Monday night after 10 days in Venezuela, providing aid in the wake of two earthquakes.
Virginia Task Force One was activated June 25, mobilizing approximately 80 first responders and a half-dozen dogs to help with rescue efforts after two powerful earthquakes ravaged a portion of the Venezuelan coast north of Caracas.
Deputy Chief of Special Operations for the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department David Barlow welcomed the team home by detailing the scope of their mission.
“All 50-plus international teams combined in Venezuela triaged 391 sites, conducted technical rescue operations at 146 locations, resulting in 14 live rescues,” Barlow said. “Of that, USA1 (Including VA Task Force One) worked over 186 continuous hours, triaging 74 sites, working 41 different locations, resulting in five live rescues,” he said.
A video that went viral on social media showed the team rescuing a mother and her nine-month-old baby days after the earthquakes hit June 24.
The earthquakes struck 39 seconds apart, measuring magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5, according to the Associated Press. Officials say they were the strongest earthquakes to hit Venezuela in more than a century.
The AP reports at least 2,295 people have been killed, while thousands remain missing.
Members of the local Venezuelan community were on hand for the homecoming, including Andrea Ramos, who has family members in Venezuela, some of whom did not survive the disaster.
“You were there working so hard, and thank God you brought equipment that you had,” said Ramos through tears. “I heard that the firefighters there, in Venezuela and Caracas, didn’t know how to use them,” she said. “And you were teaching them.”
First responders were presented with a Venezuelan flag, in appreciation of their efforts.
In addition to Virginia Task Force 1, the U.S. deployed urban search and rescue teams from Los Angeles and Miami to assist with the response.
The U.S. Embassy in Caracas thanked the rescue crews in a post on X, praising their 鈥渆xtraordinary work on the ground.鈥�
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