© 2024 University of Missouri - KBIA
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Missouri Task Force 1 to return Friday

The Birkes
/
Flickr

Missouri Task Force 1 deployed on Oct. 29 with 100,000 pounds of equipment.

The crew initially left for Herndon, Virginia but was diverted to New Jersey. The Federal Emergency Management Agency deploys task forces to national emergencies.

Gale Blomenkamp, bureau director at the Boone County Fire Protection District says the team included a range of volunteers from across the state.

“We have positions, sergeants we have structural engineers, fire fighters, emergency response personnel, all types of people from all walks of life that create this team of urban search and rescue task force that is based right here in Boone county,” Blomenkamp says.

The team made contact with 4,195 homes while covering 34 miles of streets. After spending more than a week on the East coast, the team is scheduled to arrive back home early Wednesday morning.