Lower Bucks County Responders Return From Surfside Condo Collapse

Lower Bucks County emergency responders returned late last week from assisting at the scene of the deadly Surfside Condominium collapse in Florida.

Middletown Township Fire Marshal Jim McGuire and Southampton Fire Company member Tom Brown and his K-9 search dog Memphis returned with about 80 other firefighters from across Pennsylvania and the Baltimore area. The responders were part of the multi-agency PA Task Force 1, which is one of 28 federally-backed urban search and rescue teams.

The men and their task force peers joined hundreds of other responders searching the collapsed Surfside Condominium tower rubble for survivors and remains starting in early July.

As of this week, around 100 people have been confirmed dead in the collapse. The cause remains under investigation, according to the Miami Herald.

McGuire and Brown have deployed before with the task force in Pennsylvania and nationally but mostly to assist following major hurricanes.

Brown said the work was grueling. He said him and Memphis took to the debris pile to search for survivors.

“It was emotional,” he said. “This was harder than the other ones we’ve had.”

The Pennsylvania task force members were near the family members of the victims and that made it more personal, Brown said.

McGuire, who works as a planner for the team, said there was good information about the condo building rubble being shared between searchers.

With the scale of the disaster, there was plenty of coordination as crews took to the pile to search, McGuire said.

The fire marshal heralded the skills possessed by his peers on PA Task Force 1.

“Every time I go out the door, I know I’m working with the best emergency services have to offer.”

McGuire said he was thankful for his family, who support him when he goes on deployments with the task force.

“They’re the ones who deal with me picking up at a moments notice,” McGuire said.

Gov. Tom Wolf greeted McGuire and other members of PA Task Force 1 as they returned last Friday afternoon. They were also welcomed home by their families and the Philadelphia 76ers drumline.

“I cannot imagine anything tougher than what you did. I want to thank you for being a fellow human and doing this kind of thing” the governor told the gathered responders.

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