By Karen Kucher
The San Diego Union-Tribune
SAN DIEGO — Three members of the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department were seriously injured in a vehicle crash early Sunday in East Texas while heading to assist in hurricane relief efforts in North Carolina, officials said.
The three — a battalion chief and two captains — were in a Ford F-350 truck, a department vehicle, that was involved in a collision with a civilian vehicle on East Highway 20 near the border with Louisiana , around 2:45 a.m. All three were transported by helicopter to a hospital in Shreveport, La.
They were reported in “various conditions ranging from moderate to critical,” Assistant Fire Chief Jim Gaboury told reporters early Sunday. The names of the injured were not released.
Details about the crash were not released. The closest town to the crash site is Waskom, Texas .
The three are part of a 48-member team that left Friday from San Diego to support Hurricane Helene relief efforts. They are part of Urban Search & Rescue California Task Force 8, a team that includes firefighters from several agencies, emergency-room doctors, a structural engineer and a duty mechanic.
There were 18 vehicles deployed with the team, which planned to do water-rescue work and provide other assistance in Charlotte, N.C. , Gaboury said. The team has responded to previous hurricanes and disaster sites in the past.
“This is the first time task force members have been involved in a serious accident,” Gaboury said.
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria said the city was sending prayers to the injured firefighters and their families.
“These firefighters have the city’s full and total support as they go through what we hope will be a swift recovery,” Gloria told reporters. “It is times like these that I ask San Diegans to remember the tremendous sacrifices that we ask of our first responders. These are individuals who will go toward danger, while the rest of us step away.”
Gloria said the firefighters were part of a national response sent to assist with the aftermath of the devastating hurricane. “I could not be prouder of them,” Gloria said.
In all, San Diego Fire- Rescue had 32 members deployed on the mission.
Fire Chief Robert Logan and representatives from San Diego City Firefighters Local 145 planned to travel to Louisiana to be with the injured firefighters, officials said. The rest of the team is staying in a hotel in Texas as decisions were made as to whether they would continue their rescue deployment.
“We are currently working with FEMA right now to determine if they still need those resources,” Gaboury said.
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