VANDALIA, Ohio — Ohio Task Force 1 is back in the Miami Valley as 81 members of the FEMA-based team returned after more than a two-week deployment to the site of the condo building collapse in Surfside, Florida.
The semi-trucks, buses and vans who were part of the convoy pulled into the task force’s warehouse in Vandalia around 2:45 p.m. Thursday.
The task force has been assisting in Surfside, Florida where the Champlain Towers Condo collapsed on June 24.
>> UPDATE: Ohio Task Force One departs for Florida
There was a lot of hugs and reunions between task force members and their families after being apart for a couple of weeks. At a ceremony shortly after their homecoming, Gov. Mike Dewine spoke about what this team’s work meant to the state.
“To Ohio Task Force One, welcome home. We are very, very proud of you.” He continued, “When Ohio sends this task force out, we’re sending our best. You do the things the rest of us don’t want to do.”
Officials said 81 members were deployed and they worked on site in Florida for 240 hours. They said the hottest day was July 3 when it was 97 degrees but felt like 104 degrees.
The team recovered the bodies of 14 victims, assisted other teams in recovery of other victims.
Adam Landis, who is a member of the task force but also serves as District Chief for the Dayton Fire Department, said, “What cannot be captured are the buckets of sweat, the pounds of dirt absorbed and the amount of heart and grit that was put into this mission by the men and women of this task force.”
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