Fairfax County Fire Department Not Missing a Beat With 72 Members in Japan

With 72 of their firefighters deployed to Japan as part of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) search and rescue team, Fairfax County Fire and Rescue has not had to cut back on service.

Monday, fire and rescue spokesman Dan Schmidt said the agency has the vacated shifts being filled by the remaining firefighters. The county is operating with a minimum number of firefighters on some apparatus.

“There’s no loss of emergency services,” Schmidt said. “There’s a minimum number of people we can operate with and that’s what we’re doing in some cases.”

Schmidt said the team could be gone for as long as 14 days. He said the team is operating under the direction of the Federal government and not the county. The county is not paying for services the team is rendering in Japan, which is being covered by USAID, Schmidt said. The 72-member team was picked across the board amongst the county’s fire and rescue department, Schmidt said.

USAID sent more than 140 people into Japan following an earthquake and tsunami to search for people who may have been trapped under rubble and debris. The group of rescuers also includes four members with nuclear expertise from the U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), according to USAID. 

According to USAID, the Urban Search and Rescue team arrived at Misawa Air Base in Japan on Sunday with 12 search dogs and 45 tons of equipment. The 72 Fairfax County firefighters were called up Friday just after noon. Schmidt said the men and women who ventured to Japan have the full support of their colleagues at home.

“What’s good about it is the other guys step up,” Schmidt said. “We’re a team. When we have to pull together we get it done.”