FL Man Chokes Up At Sight Of Hurricane Irma-Bound L.A. Fire Crew

LOS ANGELES – Video of a Los Angeles city fire truck, rolling south toward Hurricane Irma on the Florida Turnpike, created a minor sensation on the internet Saturday.

The truck, part of the city's swiftwater rescue team from Station 88 in Encino, and its crew was being staged for rescue work in Florida.

Video of the truck, and its trailer holding two speedboats, was captured on a Florida turnpike.

"Chokes me up," said the Twitter user, Franco Powers. "All the way from California."

A city fire spokesperson said 80 fire rescue workers from Los Angeles were in Florida, and were "honored to now help Floridians during Hurricane Irma, on behalf of the people of Los Angeles."

Meanwhile, the Orange County Fire Authority sent seven Urban Search and Rescue specialists from Monday through Friday to assist Irma operations, said OCFA Capt. Steve Concialdi.

A K-9 search specialist joined California Task Force 8 out of San Diego and a structural specialist joined a task force from Washington State, Concialdi said. Another structural specialist and four Incident Support Team members also headed to Florida.

"A few of the USAR firefighters either just returned (from Hurricane Harvey) or they went from Texas straight there," he said.

Meanwhile, about 60 OCFA firefighters remained on mutual aid duty at nine fires in California, Concialdi said.

Hurricane Irma began to pull away from Cuba in the Saturday evening hours with a course set for Florida.

Although Irma slowed a bit after after its run-in with Cuba, it is expected to remain a major storm when it arrives in the Tampa Bay area. Forecasters expect Irma to make it well north of Tampa Bay before losing major hurricane status.

All of south Florida remains under a tornado watch, and at least two were confirmed Saturday night. There are dire warnings of a life-threatening coastal storm surge of 10 to 15 feet, even 20 feet in some areas, which would mean devastating flooding.

On Thursday, Florida Gov. Rick Scott warned about Irma’s size. “This thing is bigger than our entire state,” Scott said during a press conference. “Take this thing seriously.”

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• Southland Crews Helping With Harvey, Now Rerouted To Hurricane Irma Efforts

• Are You Earthquake-Ready, Southlanders? Heed These Emergency-Prep Plans

--City News Service, Dennis Robaugh and Sheri Lonon contributed to this report/Image via NASA Facebook page