Members of Ohio Task Force One arrived in Miami, Florida on Thursday to help with recovery efforts after a condo collapsed on June 24.
They were called out to Florida on Wednesday, and while they said they are ready and trained for whatever may come their way, they know it will be an unpredictable road ahead.
As of July 1, officials say at least 18 people have died and more than 140 are unaccounted for.
Jack Reall, a central Ohioan and task force leader, is prepared for tough several days to continue the work Florida crews have started.
“Delayering the floors finding victims, any potential void spaces,” he said. “[There’s] a lot of hanging pieces of concrete, way up in the air. We call those widow makers. And the structure being very unstable.”
Reall said this is not his first time helping in a situation like this. He worked with crews in New York after the World Trade Center collapsed on 9/11.
He said the engineers already on scene tell him the scene in Miami is smaller scale but similar to what crews saw in New York nearly 20 years ago.
As to what goes through his mind working on a scene like that, Reall said, “there’s always hope that you can find that one person that’s still alive. There’s a lot of families out there that are looking for some closure.”
He said his team will put everything we can into their efforts to get victims to their families.