Special unit of JFRD spends 10 days helping rescue Michael victims

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A convoy of a special operation team with the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department returned home Thursday after spending 10 days helping rescue victims of Hurricane Michael in the Florida Panhandle.

Members of the JFRD Urban Search and Rescue Team were among the first boots on the ground in some of the devastated areas of the Panhandle hit by the Category 4 hurricane. They said they were honored to be able to serve.

The team of local heroes also helped neighbors to the west during Hurricane Katrina.

They said Michael was a different animal. It was an unbelievable sight, even for some of the most seasoned first responders. 

"Literally looked like a giant weed wacker went through there," Batallion Chief Sean Hatchett said. "Trees were taken down, railroad cars flipped over on sides."

Hatchett said, in his 23 years with JFRD, he had never seen that kind of wind damage. 

Throughout the destruction they saw in Panama City and neighboring Panama City Beach, Hatchett described the most amazing morale booster.

"With the devastation, the people there were just so thankful we were there," Hatchett said. "They constantly thanked us. They were very appreciative and that boosted our morale tremendously."

For more than a week, the Jacksonville team of 47 used their years of training in areas such as urban searches and floodwater rescues. 

Capt. Colin Aguilar described how they were able to reach some of the first people found, who survived the massive storm.

"Some people trapped in homes way back in woods," Aguilar said. "(We) either cleared the road or carried them out," Aguilar said. 

Though some residents lost everything, Aguilar said they were always very pleasant. 

"We went in the neighborhoods. Their houses were leveled but they still had a smile on their face," he said. "They were happy to see us."

JFRD's mission is not over. It tweeted Thursday, saying Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry gave the order to send a JFRD decontamination trailer to Mexico Beach.