Peninsula Water Rescue Team Heads To Texas To Assist In Search-And-Rescue Missions

MENLO PARK, CA — Several rescuers from the Bay Area have headed to Texas to help with relief efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, officials said Monday. Both the Silicon Valley Air National Guard and Menlo Park Fire Protection District have teams en route to the Lone Star State.

California Air National Guardsmen from the 129th Rescue Wing were making preparations Monday to go to Texas with about 90 members. They were getting ready to leave as early as Monday afternoon, spokesman Roderick Bersamina said.

Already, two water rescue teams from the Bay Area are going to Texas to help with the federal response to the hurricane, which made landfall late Friday in the Houston area as a Category 4 storm, fire officials said. A team from the Menlo Park Fire Protection District, Task Force 3, left at 6 p.m. Sunday and as of Monday morning had traveled 800 miles on the road.

"Overnight and as of 8 a.m. Monday morning, the Team had driven as far as Flagstaff, Arizona and covered some 800 miles overnight," Menlo Park Fire Protection District Fire Chief Harold Schapelhouman said in a statement Monday. "They anticipate driving all day and covering the next 1,000 miles by 2 a.m. Tuesday morning, arriving in Austin, Texas where they can be assigned to search and rescue missions."

Schapelhouman said the 16 water rescue team members hail from not only the Menlo Park Fire Protection District, but from the Central San Mateo County, Palo Alto, San Jose, San Mateo and South San Francisco Fire Departments "...which helps to spread out the staffing impacts but also shows the benefit of a multi-agency team that comes together and identifies itself as members of California Task Force 3."

As of midday Monday, rescuers in Texas had made 2,211 high-water rescues, according to the Harris County Sheriff's Office, which serves the Houston area.

Federal officials have activated all 28 federal task forces, which include the two Bay Area water rescue teams. Along with Menlo Park, the other Bay Area team is from Oakland.

"This is the most significant national response event since Hurricane Katrina and as such is generating a top shelf federal and state magnitude of water rescue response and supporting resources," Schapelhouman said.

The 129th Rescue Wing has gone to Texas before in response to Hurricanes Rita in 2005 and Ike and Gustav in 2008. The wing is made up of Guardian Angel pararescuemen, HH-60G Pave Hawk rescue helicopters and an MC-130P Combat Shadow aircraft. The wing will operate out of Robert Gray Army Airfield in Texas.

Several team members from the Menlo Park Fire Protection District responded to Hurricane Katrina while others responded to other disasters such as flooding in the Central Valley.

As they left for Texas, the team took five vehicles, 10 boats and three drones with them.The 129th Rescue Wing has been given credit for saving 1,017 lives since 1977.

A water rescue team from Oakland was briefed this weekend before it was to deploy to Texas, Oakland firefighters said.

— Bay City News Service contributed to this report / PHOTO: Task Force 3 members load generators and equipment for immediate deployment to Texas over the weekend; CREDIT: Menlo Park Fire Protection District