How Oklahoma First Responders Prepare, Respond To Large Scale Disasters

The tragedy at the Francis Scott Key bridge collapse in Baltimore has left people with concerns about infrastructure safety. This incident is familiar to Oklahomans and brought back memories of the I-40 bridge in Webbers Falls.

Captain Justin Banks with the Tulsa Fire Department said the state is prepared and has its own resources to respond to incidents like a bridge collapse.

Oklahoma Task Force 1 or Urban Search and Rescue Units was created to respond to incidents like severe weather or structural collapses that involve large amounts of debris. This same group responded to the Webbers Falls collapse more than 20 years ago.

Banks said while we don't have the large scale waterways like the East Coast, we do have water based transportation where smaller vessels come through our rivers.

He said in case of emergency, they have an active and aggressive team ready to complete high angle rescues, and can use canines to search for trapped victims.

“We kind of take that very gaged approach. The 'where' and 'what' is the issue. And then whatever discipline applies to that issue, we have experts within the task force that they can address those issues and we all come together as a team," Banks said.

Banks said the biggest challenges impacting Baltimore is getting to the scene and water temperatures complicating search and rescue for victims and responders.

“If it’s within the boundaries of the City of Tulsa or within our region as we like to say, then Tulsa firefighters respond and start that initial effort to identify the scope of the damage and what all has happened and the impacts to life," Banks said.