Los Angeles

‘All the Way From California': Video Shows LAFD Truck Heading Toward Irma on Fla. Turnpike

"This is so cool, these boys are all the way from California"

Video of a Los Angeles city fire truck, rolling south towards Hurricane Irma on the Florida Turnpike, created a minor sensation on the Internet Saturday.

The truck, part of the city's swiftwater rescue team from Station 88 in Encino, and its crew was being staged for rescue work in Florida.

Video of the truck, and its trailer holding two speedboats, was captured at Milepost 255 on Interstate 75, near Disney World.

"Chokes me up," said the Twitter user, Franco Powers. "This is so cool, these boys are all the way from California." 

A city fire spokesperson responded that 80 fire rescue workers from Los Angeles were in Florida and were "honored to now help Floridians during Hurricane Irene, on behalf of the people of Los Angeles." 

Meanwhile, the Orange County Fire Authority sent seven Urban Search and Rescue specialists from Monday through Friday to assist Irma operations, said OCFA Capt. Steve Concialdi.

A K-9 search specialist joined California Task Force 8 out of San Diego and a structural specialist joined a task force from Washington State, Concialdi said. Another structural specialist and four Incident Support Team members also headed to Florida.

"A few of the USAR firefighters either just returned (from Hurricane Harvey) or they went from Texas straight there," he said.

About 60 OCFA firefighters remained on mutual aid duty at nine fires in California, Concialdi said.

Copyright CNS - City News Service
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