Searcing for a Miracle

The St. Petersburg Fire Department worked among teams from all over Florida and the rest of the country.

Photo by NICOLE HOWARD

Local Fire Departments Deploy to Surfside Condo Disaster

By Abby Baker

St. Petersburg Firefighter Nicole Howard was one of 60-plus on Task Force 3 – made up of first responders from Hillsborough County Fire Rescue, Tampa Fire Rescue and St. Petersburg Fire Rescue – assigned to search for signs of life in the rubble of the condominium collapse on June 24 in the Miami suburb of Surfside.

The special operations unit arrived at Champlain Towers South on June 26, two days after the south beach residences fell.

When Bay area responders got to the scene, the condo was standing, partially destroyed with slabs of wreckage amongst the belongings of former residents.

“My mind didn’t want to believe it was true, that what I was seeing was reality,” said Howard, who has been with SPFR for nearly six years. “I knew this event would rank as one of the deadliest building collapses in American history.”

Rescue to Recovery

Working with national and Florida teams, Task Force 3 split into two shifts, with around 30 people working 12 p.m. to 12 a.m. and another 30 working 12 a.m. to 12 p.m.

For a week, the shifts never stopped.

“I’m the one that takes cameras into void spaces of rubble piles to search for any signs of human or animal life,” Howard said. “The reality, though, is we needed rock breakers.”

The Surfside site was been turned over to federal teams as they shifted efforts from rescue to recovery operations.

Hoping for a Miracle

Weeks after the disaster, the death toll is at a confirmed 95, including a victim as young as 1 year old, with dozens still unaccounted for as of Tuesday, July 13.

The disaster prompted a Surfside Wall of Hope & Memorial, honoring the victims of the collapse with photos, flowers and messages against the chain link.

Howard and her teammates worked near the memorial for the seven consecutive days Task Force 3 was deployed.

“Putting a face and personality to these people you are desperately trying to find brought tears to my eyes and a lump in my throat,” Howard said. “(It) made us work tirelessly as one to try and find a miracle in the rubble.”