USAR Regional Task Force cont.
Numerous lessons learned came
out of this response, including:
• Early activation/notification
of team members.
By Donnie Viloria
On January 9 County Fire’s technical
rescue Regional Task Force 6 was
deployed to its first real-world incident
to support search, rescue and recovery
operations in mudslide-affected
neighborhoods in Santa Barbara County.
As a result of the devastating Thomas Fire in
December, many of the area’s once-lush hillsides had
been burned clear and rendered hydrophobic. As the
early winter storm began to produce intense rainfall
the surrounding landscape could not hold onto the water
and massive flooding began. Local emergency resources
were quickly overwhelmed and state Office of Emergency
Services placed requests for all 12 regional rescue task
forces to mobilize and assist, commencing what came to
be known as XSB January Storms 2018.
Responding in task force configuration, RTF6 sent a four-person hasty team
in advance of the main team compliment. Once checked in and briefed at the
command post, crews were placed on the first incident action plan and given a
search and rescue assignment above the area deemed hardest hit by the first
wave of flooding. Primary technical search teams were established and grid
patterns followed, based on highest probability of detection. The goals were to
search for debris-flow victims, to rescue community members trapped in the
affected areas and to keep an enhanced level of situational awareness.
• Proper use of Telestaff roster for
identifying USAR-qualified personnel.
• Standardized commitment roster
of personnel on two week rotation.
• Purchase of waders and decon
materials not readily supplied
through the incident cache.
• Enhanced mapping capabilities
aligned with incident situation unit.
RTF6 has been “on paper” to respond to
numerous incidents, including Kern County
wildfires for technical search as well as
Oroville dam for USAR operations post dam
collapse. Due to the successful response
capabilities of the RTFs as evidenced during
the January response, state OES is now ever
more encouraged to make future resource
requests and pre-deployment staging. RTF6
maintains a robust roster with quarterly
drills designed to test the membership.
No doubt these drills contributed to the
Montecito response.
Battalion Chief Donnie Viloria is currently
assigned to Division 4 in the south desert. He is
the OES USAR Regional Task Force 6 coordinator.
Camera crews captured the diligent deployment of RTF6 personnel, and
instantly many members were found with local and national news reporters
following them throughout the disaster site. Initial neighborhood checks yielded
no victims but several hazards communicated up the chain of command.
Due to the hazards represented it was decided by command staff that all
RTF operations would be conducted on twelve-hour day shift cycles. Over the
course of the eight-day deployment RTF6 was assigned to five of the seven
divisions established. This created numerous opportunities for team members
to showcase skill sets in a wide variety of neighborhoods and disaster
landscapes, each of which contributed significantly to personnel experience.
Technical search skills the main skills utilized, and the deep mud and debris in
many areas made the work tedious and challenging—especially since none of
the RTFs present were properly equipped for flood and debris flow operations.
Requests for waders, boots and search poles were quickly sent into the
incident supply unit, which had not fielded such requests previously.
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FIREWIRE • Spring 2018
Spring 2018 • FIREWIRE
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