Updated at 2 p.m., April 25, 2015
A team of Southland firefighters has been alerted Saturday that they may be rushed to Nepal to dig out trapped survivors, following a deadly magnitude 7.8 earthquake.
Early news reports say than 1,000 people were killed in Nepal, Tibet, China and India. Deadly avalanches are reported on the flanks of Mt. Everest from the quake, which hit just after 11:11 p.m. California time on Friday.
“Everybody’s grabbing their gear. It (the notification) just means to stand by,” said Los Angeles County Fire Capt. Brian Jordan. “They have not been ordered to respond.”
Jordan said the California Task Force Two team is preparing for possible deployment at the county fire’s Urban Search And Rescue Headquarters in the San Fernando Valley.
The team is about 65 people, mostly from Los Angeles County, with at least one rescue dog handler from Santa Barbara County, said a Los Angeles County Fire dispatcher.
“It takes several hours to get ready to get deployed,” he said.
A similar crew from Fairfax County, Virginia has also been alerted to get ready to move, according to WUSA-TV in Washington, D.C.
—City News Service