By Ford Turner
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
HARRISBURG, Pa. 鈥 The concept of a high-level urban search-and-rescue team based in Allegheny County moved forward on Wednesday as a bill approving the plan passed the Senate in Harrisburg. Emergency services officials were optimistic the long-desired team might eventually become a reality.
Brian Kokkila, assistant chief for the Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire and a regional search-and-rescue task force leader, was in the Capitol to watch the Senate pass the bill unanimously. It now goes to the House for consideration.
鈥淚t sustains and codifies something that should have happened 20 years ago,鈥 Mr. Kokkila said.
A top-level, federally funded team already is based in Philadelphia, but none exists in Western Pennsylvania. The bill sponsored by Sen. Devlin Robinson, R- Allegheny, gives the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency a key role in creating the Allegheny-based team, and it could require state funding.
鈥淚 certainly see the need for the team,鈥 said McKeesport Fire Chief Jeffrey Tomovcsik, second vice president of the Pennsylvania Career Fire Chiefs Association. 鈥淚t is unfortunate we do not have a team in this end of the state.鈥
For many lawmakers, the need was illustrated vividly by the Jan. 28, 2022, collapse of the Fern Hollow Bridge. There were no deaths, but since search-and-rescue assets in the area did not have specially trained canine units, it took hours to make that determination.
The Philadelphia-based unit is classified 鈥淭ype 1" under Federal Emergency Management Agency standards and is run entirely with federal money. Mr. Robinson鈥檚 bill calls for the one in Allegheny County to meet 鈥淭ype 3" requirements 鈥 having about half the personnel and resources of a Type 1 team 鈥 and it might require state funding.
A Senate projection said PEMA determined a new team in Allegheny County could have $19 million in initial startup costs and ongoing annual costs of $4 million to $5 million.
However, PEMA is studying how the assets of the existing 鈥淪trike Team 1" in Western Pennsylvania 鈥 led by Mr. Kokkila 鈥 could be transitioned into a Type 3 task force. Using existing equipment and assets would lower the price tag for a new, higher-level team. Grant programs also may help with costs.
鈥淲e have a team of very dedicated folks,鈥 Mr. Kokkila said of the region鈥檚 current arrangement. 鈥淭hey are underequipped and under-sustained.鈥
He said the region has no dogs that are trained to search collapsed buildings. 鈥淯rban search-and-rescue canines are trained differently, and they work differently than a wilderness dog,鈥 he said.
Such dogs are 鈥渙ne of the things that comes with鈥 a Type 3 team, he said.
The finances of the proposal are sure to get close scrutiny in the House. In December, a similar bill passed the House Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee, where Rep. Mark Gillen, R- Berks, is the minority chairman.
The Senate bill, he said, has more ambitious spending than the House bill. And, he said, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think the dollars are well defined in the Senate bill.鈥
Mr. Tomovcsik also said finances were crucial.
Many members of his organization, he said, are from Eastern Pennsylvania fire companies that self-fund some specialty units. A concern, he said, is that state money for search and rescue is 鈥渄istributed equally throughout the commonwealth.鈥
The bill calls for a Joint State Government Commission study of the topic, to be completed by Nov. 30.
Butler County Commissioner Kevin Boozel, who is also a firefighter and EMT, said his county runs planning sessions for dealing with hypothetical mass casualty events. Knowing that a high-caliber search-and-rescue team is in the region would be a big plus, he said.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 need it until you need it,鈥 he said.
(c)2024 the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Visit the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette at www.post-gazette.com
Distributed by