Harvey search and rescue task force welcomed home,
Task force saves over 900 victims, dozens of pets
Twenty-two Central Florida firefighters were welcomed home Tuesday afternoon with balloons, signs and smiling faces at the Florida Urban Search and Rescue Task Force 4 headquarters in Orlando.
Coming back from a 10-day trip to Beaumont, Texas, where they saved nearly 1,000 people from Hurricane Harvey’s floods, the crews drove in beneath a huge American flag into the reception.
Two boys — 9-year-old Braden and 7-year-old Daniel Zielonka — bolted through the crowd of onlookers with a sign reading, “Welcome home, Dad!”
They leaped into Mike Zielonka’s arms after he’d left the two Aug. 27 to help with search and rescue. Mike Zielonka, 38, and his brother Bill Zielonka, 42, both went and are members of Orange County Fire Rescue.
“It’s good to be home,” Mike Zielonka said. “This was the best homecoming ever.”
The team — made up of members of the Orlando, Clermont, Winter Park and Seminole County fire departments and Orange County Fire Rescue — used their specialized training and four boats to search for flood victims and ultimately saved more than 900 flood victims and dozens of pets.
Mike Zielonka said every member played a role, from navigating the waters and rescuing victims to getting up at 4 a.m. and repairing boats.
“We’re not swimming through lakes, we’re not going through rivers — we’re going through streets, over houses and over signs,” Mike Zielonka said. “A lot of damage gets done.”
Orlando Fire Department Lt. Craig Hulette said the team faced tough obstacles, working 12- to 14-hour days without breaks and ultimately having to move out of their shelter in an arena to another base camp because of flooding. The group later teamed up with the U.S. Marines in their response.
“The need was so great, they worked constantly,” Hulette said.
Hulette thanked the firefighter families and the community back home for their support.
“The fact that they knew that Central Florida was backing them all the way kept them going those long days and kept them putting people in the boats,” Hulette said.
Mike Zielonka said the people of Beaumont were grateful for their help.
“They think of us all as heroes, but we just think of it as doing out jobs,” Mike Zielonka said.
Now that they’re home, the team members are allowed 48 hours off to relax before getting back to work, said Task Force 4 leader and Orange County Fire Lt. Garrett Wienckowski. They’ll need to be ready to pitch in if Hurricane Irma hits the U.S.
If Central Florida is affected, the team won’t be deployed because they will be expected to help their local agencies. But if, say, Miami is impacted and Irma skips Central Florida, Wienckowski said the group is ready for “one more” — a motto they picked up from the Marines they worked with in Beaumont.
“Whenever something bad happens, firefighters just want to be there to help,” Wienckowski said.