WEST JORDAN — It had been a long two weeks for Utah Task Force 1, which journeyed to Houston to assist with rescue efforts after Hurricane Harvey.
Members of the group, which was assigned to Houston Fire and EMS for rescue operations throughout the city, returned home Wednesday night. It was not only a trying experience for the team members but also for their families.
"It's been difficult,” Shauna Lawrence said about not seeing her husband, Steve Lawrence. “He's kind of my strength.”
Shauna Lawrence, who also works for Utah Task Force 1 in its West Jordan headquarters, said seeing the pictures come in from Houston did not make the situation easier for her.
“Just to know he was in those conditions was hard for me,” she said, “but he had a job to do.”
Wednesday night, her husband, along with the nearly two dozen team members, arrived in Utah. They left the state for Texas back on Aug. 24, just ahead of the storm.
The group was made up of different professionals from multiple agencies across the state, specifically trained to work rescue operations in natural disasters.
There were 28 from Unified Fire, 10 from Salt Lake City Fire Department, two from Park City Fire Department, one from Layton Fire Department, one from Logan Fire Department, one from Draper Fire Department, one civilian physician, one civilian engineer and one civilian mechanic.
Dr. Mike Hart, an emergency room doctor at St. Mark's Hospital in Millcreek, said this was his first time being deployed with the task force. He said no one truly knew what to expect from the mission.
“We really have to be ready to see just about everything,” Hart said.
In all, the task force carried out 340 successful rescues. Hart was even able to help deliver a baby.
“It was kind of unexpected,” Hart said. “We had to use the tools we had on hand to kind of improvise and, you know, I think things worked out pretty well.”
Upon returning, the team will evaluate all equipment, return everything to a response-ready state, reload their personal gear, and be back available for deployment in 12-24 hours.
The team is up first in the rotation for availability on a national level for the month of September and have already been put on alert for Hurricane Irma, which is expected to strike Florida this weekend.