SDF Teams Search Sacramento House Rocked by Gas Explosion
On the morning of July 5, SDF Search Teams Tim Robertson & Speaker and Jeff Ivy & Jakers received a call to deploy to a local house search in Sacramento. About one hour earlier, a natural gas explosion had destroyed the home, injuring four Sacramento City firefighters.
Jeff was on duty that day, and was dispatched to the scene where he found four of his fellow firefighters had sustained burns to their hands and faces during the explosion. After taking one of the injured firefighters to the hospital, Jeff & Jakers drove back to the scene to meet Tim & Speaker and performed a search of the building.
Tim remembers, "There was a sinking feeling in my heart knowing that Firefighters had been hurt. Also, knowing that this was a residential area, there were many unknowns to deal with.”
The handlers set to work with their canine partners, and after just a few minutes of searching the remains of the structure, Speaker and Jakers confirmed that no other firefighters or civilians had been buried beneath the rubble of the damaged house.
"Jeff and I were very relieved to know that when they finished searching, the area was clear and there were no further injuries or anyone else trapped in the wreckage," said Tim.
As of Monday morning, all four injured firefighters have been released from the hospital and are expected to make a full recovery.
These deployments are important reminders that disasters can happen at any time, and that firefighters and other first responders face danger every day in the line of duty.