Four County Firefighters Deployed to Florida with Federal Task Force

Four members of the Baltimore County Fire Department have been deployed to the Miami area to assist with search and rescue operations at the Surfside condominium collapse.

These personnel are members of a Federal Emergency Management Agency task force, Pennsylvania Task Force #1 (PAT1) and are responding with that task force.

They are Fire Capt. Ethan Johnson, Fire Lt. Davie Gouak, FADO Shawn Drees and Fire Lt. Brandon Watkins. Johnson is assigned to Westview Station #13 and Drees, Gouak and Watkins are assigned to the Texas Station #17, home of the County's Urban Search and Rescue team. All are tactical rescue specialists.

PAT1 began driving to Florida around 9 p.m. last night following a briefing in Philadelphia. Once in Florida PAT1 will join other search and rescue crews at the site of the collapse.

The Task Force is providing updates on its Twitter account, @PATaskForce1.

BCoFD has a long history of participation with PAT1. In the past, personnel have responded with the Task Force to Ground Zero in New York following the 9/11 attacks, to the Gulf Coast  following Hurricane Katrina, and numerous other hurricanes and tropical storm disasters.