| Date/Time of Occurrence: | September 15, 2005 , 12:00 a.m. |
| Nature of Occurrence: | Announcement |
| Location: | McClellan Business Park |
| Contact: | Battalion Chief Niko King |
| Phone: | 916-216-0316 |
| Email: | nking@sfd.cityofsacramento.org |
| FLIGHT DELAY ABOUT 55MIN'S AS OF 2100HRS
SACRAMENTO – Tonight, the fourteen member Swift Water Team from the Sacramento Fire Department will return home after a 17 day deployment to the City of New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The team members will be traveling all day and are expected to arrive at the Urban Search and Rescue Cache at McClellan Business Park. The team was requested by FEMA and dispatched as an immediate need resource through the California Office of Emergency Services at 3:30 a.m. on August 30, 2005. Traveling by military aircraft and ground transportation for 30 hours, the team arrived in New Orleans at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, August 31 and went straight to work. The Sacramento Team was the first organized federal boat assets on the water and began assisting in the major undertaking of evacuations and water rescues. All eight of the Swift Water Rescue Teams from California were recognized as a invaluable asset to the to the type of aid that was needed for the thousands trapped in the contaminated floodwaters in New Orleans. The Sacramento Team worked 13 long days wading and boating through several areas within the city doing searches for victims. The deployment of the Sacramento Team to this tragic event may be the most successful mission in the history of the department to any large scale disaster. The Sacramento Fire Department Swift Water Team Members are: Assistant Chief Jay Bowdler Battalion Chief Kristi Seargeant Battalion Chief Craig Wiedenhoeft Battalion Chief Niko King Captain Chris Costamagna Captain Greg Powell Captain Michael Bartley Captain Charlie Sprague Captain Dave Baldwin Fire Fighter Chris Swarbrick Fire Fighter Brian Morr Fire Fighter Sage Peart Fire Fighter Martin Cordiero Fire Fighter Jeff Cooke All media is invited to attend this homecoming event. |
| Public Information Officer: | Battalion Chief Niko King |
Copyright 2004, Sacramento City Fire Department, all rights reserved.