Pleasanton firefighters join Gulf Coast rescue effort Pleasanton firefighters join Gulf Coast rescue effort (September 02, 2005)

Bay Area chapter of Red Cross seeks disaster relief donations
by Carol Bogart

Two Pleasanton firefighters, members of the California Task Force 4 Urban Search and Rescue Team, are headed for Louisiana. The team will aid the overwhelmed local effort to rescue people trapped by rising flood waters in New Orleans.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency gave local squads just six hours to prepare. The 50-member swift water rescue team is made up of powerboat operators, scuba divers, helicopter pilots, paramedics and hazardous materials experts. All are versed in search and rescue operations inside damaged/flooded buildings and in open water filled with toxic pollution, dead people and animals and floating or hidden debris. According to reports, the team may also encounter dangerous wildlife such as poisonous snakes, alligators and even sharks.

As in wildfire assistance, each Alameda County fire department contributes two paid responders. Local departments are reimbursed by FEMA. Those headed for the Gulf Coast from the Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department are Jim Gill and Ralph Weidling. Gill lives in Pleasanton. He is a certified scuba diver trained in swift water rescue and a captain at Pleasanton Fire Station 3 on Santa Rita Road. Weidling lives in Tracy and works out of Livermore. For the next two weeks, both will be assigned around-the-clock shifts.

Disaster preparedness coordinator with the Livermore Pleasanton Fire Department, Tessa Burns, has extensive disaster coordination experience, both as an instructor with FEMA's Community Emergency Response Training (CERT) program and with the Red Cross. Burns said she will know by the end of the week whether she can take a leave to go to the stricken region as a Red Cross volunteer.

Hurricane experts are predicting that this will be one of the most active hurricane seasons in recent history. Hurricane Katrina is the 11th named storm so far this year.

How you can help

The Bay Area chapter of the Red Cross needs donations for its Disaster Relief fund. Checks with "disaster relief" written on the memo line can be mailed to:

The American Red Cross

85 Second St., 8th floor

San Francisco, CA. 94105

Financial gifts to the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund are used to provide shelter, food, counseling and other aid to disaster-devastated areas nationwide. Checks with "zipcode 94566 Disaster Relief" on the memo line will be used for Pleasanton disaster preparedness (see Cover Story, page 20), disaster response, first aid and CPR training as well as disease prevention.

For more information, call (800)-HELP NOW or visit www.redcross.org/donate/donation-form.asp. For other help agencies, visit http://www.networkforgood.org/topics/animal_environ/hurricanes.

To learn how you can volunteer, call (888) 443-5722.

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