The state's Butler County Incident Management Team (IMT) sent an emergency response team to Florida Saturday morning to help that state’s first-responders and residents with incoming Hurricane Dorian.
The IMT team, which is composed of fire fighters and EMS personnel from more than a dozen Butler County and southern Warren County fire departments, departed this morning for Florida as the storm moves closer to that state's coast line.
Officials with the Butler County Emergency Management Agency released a statement saying the team will deploy today for a 16-day mission on behalf of the State of Florida Emergency Management.
>> RELATED: The latest of Hurricane Dorian
The Butler County IMT left from the Butler County Emergency Operations Center in Hamilton and is traveling to Tallahassee, Florida to receive their mission in response and recovery to Hurricane Dorian, said IMT officials.
The IMT team’s mission will be determined by the State of Florida EMA based on the needs of local and county departments, IMT officials said.
The team members represent Deerfield Township Fire, Englewood Fire, Fairfield Township Fire, Liberty Township Fire, Monroe Fire, Morgan Township Fire, Oxford Police, Oxford Fire, St. Clair Township / New Miami Life Squad, Toledo Fire, West Chester Fire, and Butler County EMA for this deployment.
>> RELATED: Hurricane Dorian: Ohio Task Force 1 activated
On Thursday, Butler County EMA officials received requests through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) from the State of Florida EMA requesting a Type 3 All Hazards Incident Management Team to support existing personnel, officials said.
"The requests are coordinated through the Ohio Department of Public Safety, Division of Emergency Management and authorized through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC)," said officials.
EMAC is a state-to-state mutual aid agreement, which allows states to request additional disaster response resources and personnel.
Under EMAC, the agreements outlines that the requesting state reimburses all associated costs incurred by the provider state.
>> RELATED: AAA: Hurricane Dorian will potentially impact travel plans
State officials said the State of Ohio/Butler County Incident Management Team is a highly trained management team who can provide coordination, guidance and logistical support to areas in declared disaster, said officials.
The Butler County IMT is comprised of emergency response departments from state, county and local agencies in Ohio. The Butler County IMT focuses on planning, logistics, communications, operations, safety and documentation in declared disasters.
On Friday Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones released a statement announcing his department is also prepared to send emergency response teams to Florida to aid in the hurricane's aftermath.
