FEMA Awards Colorado $1.3 Million for Urban Search and Rescue Team

Grant Will Help Train and Maintain Supplies for Colorado-Based Team

Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet today announced the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has awarded the State of Colorado $1,365,608 to help train first responders and maintain supplies for the state’s Urban Search and Rescue Task Force. Colorado’s task force (CO-TF1) is one of 28 teams based in 19 states across the country that help provide search and rescue support to disasters around the country.

“Colorado knows how valuable first responders can be when disaster strikes and search and rescue assistance is needed,” Bennet said. “This grant will help ensure that the first responders on Colorado’s task force will have the training and supplies they need to respond at a moment’s notice.”

Urban Search and Rescue task forces are designed to respond to a disaster area without impacting the local resources. They must be able to deploy within four hours by ground and six hours by air, and they must be prepared to deploy for up to 14 days.

The Colorado-based task force has responded to disasters across the country, including the Windsor tornado, the Pueblo explosion, Hurricanes Ike and Katrina, the World Trade Center, and the Oklahoma City bombing, among others.

CO-TF1 is made up of first responders from Arvada Fire Protection District, Aurora Fire Department, Castle Rock Fire Department, Cunningham Fire Protection District, Denver Fire Department, Fort Carson Fire Department, Littleton Fire & Rescue, Longmont Fire Department, Parker Fire Protection District, Poudre Fire Authority, South Metro Fire & Rescue, and West Metro Fire Protection District.

More information on CO-TF1 can be found at http://www.co-tf1.org/index.htm.