"You're going inside, and make a cut,"
"Confined space cutting."
"So, I'm going into the hole?"
"The urban search and rescue program in the United States is by far the most extensive, most highly trained and probably most respected system in the entire world,"
Eight firefighters from around the country train at a 20-foot concrete cylinder labeled BELL TOWER to practice confined-space cutting and rescue techniques. Trainees squeeze through narrow openings with blow torches to simulate entering collapsed structures and debris fields. The exercises aim to replicate rescues after floods, hurricanes, wildfires, and building collapses, with teams deploying to incidents such as Hurricanes Helene and Milton, Lahaina and Los Angeles wildfires, and the Surfside condominium collapse. The national urban search and rescue network performs life-saving rescues and human-remains recovery. Proposed changes to FEMA by the Trump administration risk eliminating FEMA and pressuring the program.
Read at www.npr.org
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