3 Orange County firefighters deployed to Puerto Rico to assist in rescue efforts following earthquakes

Three members of the Orange County Fire Authority’s Urban Search and Rescue team have been deployed to Puerto Rico to assist in rescue efforts after a series of earthquakes rocked the southern portion of the island and caused power outages over the past week, authorities said.

Retired Division Chief Mike Boyle, Battalion Chief Steve Dohman and Air Operations member John Keesee were deployed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help in Puerto Rico shortly after a 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck about 4:24 a.m. Atlantic Standard Time, Jan. 7, Battalion Chief Craig Covey said Saturday.

The trio has teamed up with another task force team from Florida to assist in search and rescue operations, Covey said. The three members from OCFA specialize in rescuing victims of concrete structure collapses.

“This is the real technical rescue of someone deep inside a collapsed structure,” Covey said. “They need specialists with the equipment who can do this and that’s what these guys do.”

The three men were thought to be close to heading home after receiving few assignments following their arrival, but that changed after a series of aftershocks. The team is anticipated to remain in Puerto Rico until mid-week next week, Covey said.

The team, one of 28 federal teams funded and sponsored by FEMA, has responded to other natural disasters in recent years, including the Camp Fire, Ventura County fires and hurricanes on the East Coast, he said.

They volunteer, but are employed by FEMA when deployed, Covey said. The three were selected to the program after an interview and training.

Since the initial quake, a series of quakes that followed has severely damaged infrastructure along Puerto Rico’s southwest coast and left more than 2,000 people in shelters. Nearly 1 million people were still without power and hundreds of thousands were without water, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a Saturday statement.

“California stands with the people of Puerto Rico,” Newsom said. “Our nation-sized state knows first-hand the devastating toll of natural disasters and we will provide aid and support as our brothers and sisters rebuild and recover.”

On Saturday, Newsom announced the deployment of 31 disaster specialists from the state, consisting of experts in incident and emergency management, engineering and safety assessment, planning, public information, debris management and crisis counseling, to assist the island to rebuild and recover.

That incident management team, which includes members from the California Department of Social Services, CalRecycle, Caltrans and the Division of the State Architect within the Department of General Services, was anticipated to deploy Sunday for a 16-day assignment, Newsom said.