By SDF Firefighter Gary Durian, Los Angeles County Fire DepartmentBaxter and I were deployed on the night of April 1, 2009 to a traffic accident in the city of La Cañada-Flintridge. At approximately 6 p.m., a truck loaded with vehicles was driving down Angeles Crest Highway—a steep mountain road—and was …
SDF Canine Search Teams Deployed to Chatsworth Train WreckOn Friday, September 12th at approximately 4:30pm PST, a Metrolink commuter train collided with a freight train in the city of Chatsworth, near Los Angeles, killing 25 and injuring over a hundred others. Three Search Dog Foundation canine teams were deployed to …
Jacksonville Deployment ReportBy Marshia Hall, Temple Terrace FireOn December 6, 2007, Search and Rescue teams across Florida were called out to assist the Jacksonville Fire Department with a structural collapse. Parts of a six-story parking garage had gone down while under construction. A worker who had witnessed the collapse said …
Exactly one year after being partnered with their canines, and only five days after receiving their official State Certifications, SDF’s New York teams were called out on their first deployment. This was followed by a second callout three weeks later—an extraordinary beginning for these excellent new teams. Here are their reports:On Thursday, …
Florida Tornado: Marshia & Trapper respondOn February 3, 2007 a deadly tornado blast into Lake County, Florida, killing 20 people, damaging hundreds of houses and leaving more than 10,000 people without power. SDF-trained search team Captain Marshia Hall and her Yellow Lab, Trapper, were deployed as part of Florida Task …
Teams: Dave Ramsay & Sandy, Tom Carney & GypsyMidway into a demolition project, a 100 x 20 foot concrete wall fell onto a residential street, killing a 48 year-old woman as she sat in her parked car. It was suspected that three workers were also missing and SDF teams were …
At 11:00 a.m. on Sunday, July 16th, an explosion occurred in a two-story home just outside Albany. A ten year-old girl was found alive, but two of her family members died tragically in the disaster. There were conflicting reports about the possibility of another victim unaccounted for, and New York’s Task Force …
This past April, the intensive training of our Bay Area teams was put to the test when a hillside collapsed upon the rear of a Mill Valley home. SDF-trained search teams Jim Boggeri & Recon (Marin County Fire) and SDF handler Teresa Ortenberger and her recovery dog, Rose, were called into action.Heavy …
At 11:00 a.m. on the morning of May 6th, a Search Dog Foundation canine-firefighter team was called into action when the construction frame of a highrise hotel-condo collapsed in Bal Harbour, near Miami, sending a three-foot layer of drying concrete onto workers and trapping them beneath the debris.Thanks to your …
From Wilma Melville, SDF Founder:The third most intense hurricane on record, Hurricane Rita is now on a rampage across the Gulf of Mexico.No sooner had SDF’s canine-firefighter search teams returned home from their deployment to Hurricane Katrina (their gear still in route), than they were once again called out by …
