FEMA Urban Search and Rescue
Tuesday, September 11, 2001
September 11, 2001 began as any normal fall weekday. The weather was beautiful as people throughout the country started their weekday routines. Over the next several hours, the country and the world would change as terrorist attacks claimed the lives of 2,983 innocent people. FEMA Urban Search and Rescue Task Force members from across the country would respond to New York City and the Pentagon.
FEMA Urban Search and Rescue
The National Urban Search & Rescue (US&R) Response System (the System), established under the authority of the Federal Emergency Management Agency in 1989, is a framework for organizing federal, state and local partner emergency response teams as integrated federal disaster response task forces. The System’s 28 US&R task forces can be deployed by FEMA to a disaster area to provide assistance in structural collapse rescue, or they may be pre-positioned when a major disaster threatens a community.
The System is a vital federal asset to support the continuous operation of critical government and business functions that are essential to human health and safety, or economic security.
The task forces are equipped and ready to deploy within six hours in various response models. When federal support is anticipated prior to an event such as a hurricane, System resources are often pre-positioned along with other federal responders to expedite support following the disaster.
Each NIMS Type 1 US&R task force is composed of 70 members specializing in search, rescue, medicine, hazardous materials, logistics and planning, including technical specialists such as physicians, structural engineers and canine search teams. The task forces can split into two NIMS type 3 US&R task forces with 35-members each to conduct around-the-clock search and rescue operations in 12-hour shifts.
September 11th FEMA US&R Response
FEMA activated 25 of its 28 national Urban Search and Rescue task forces in response to the World Trade Center and Pentagon terrorist attacks—the largest US&R deployment in U.S. history. These teams were deployed as part of the National US&R Response System, operating under FEMA authority.
US&R Teams Deployed to the World Trade Center
Arizona Task Force 1 (Phoenix, Arizona)
California Task Force 1 (Los Angeles City Fire Department)
California Task Force 3 (Menlo Park Fire Department)
California Task Force 4 (Oakland Fire Department)
California Task Force 6 (Riverside Fire Department)
California Task Force 7 (Sacramento Fire Department)
California Task Force 8 (San Diego Fire Department)
Colorado Task Force 1 (State of Colorado)
Florida Task Force 1 (Metro-Dade Fire Department)
Florida Task Force 2 (Miami Fire Department)
Indiana Task Force 1 (Marion County)
Massachusetts Task Force 1 (City of Beverly)
Missouri Task Force 1 (Boone County Fire Protection District)
Nebraska Task Force 1 (Lincoln Fire Department)
Nevada Task Force 1 (Clark County Fire Department)
Pennsylvania Task Force 1 (Commonwealth of Pennsylvania)
Ohio Task Force 1 (Miami Valley Urban Search & Rescue)
Texas Task Force 1 (State of Texas Urban Search & Rescue)
Utah Task Force 1 (Salt Lake Fire Department)
Washington Task Force 1 (Puget Sound Task Force)
US&R Teams Deployed to the Pentagon
Maryland Task Force 1 (Montgomery Fire Rescue)
New Mexico Task Force 1 (State of New Mexico)
Tennessee Task Force 1 (Memphis Fire Department)
Virginia Task Force 1 (Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department)
Virginia Task Force 2 (Virginia Beach Fire Department)
FEMA Photo Library
Massachusetts Task Force 1
Michael Rieger/FEMA
Virginia Task Force 1
FEMA Photo Library