LA County firefighters and K-9s who were deployed to Venezuela to help with search and rescue efforts following two massive, deadly earthquakes have returned home.
Relief Efforts
The Los Angeles County Fire Department (LACoFD) Urban Search and Rescue team returned to the Southland on Monday following a roughly 10-day operation in the earthquake-stricken country.
Members from the department’s USA-2 team flew to Venezuela to execute aerial and ground damage assessments across areas that were impacted by the natural disasters, while K-9s sifted through the rubble to search for survivors.
Venezuela’s northern state of La Guaira was struck by powerful back-to-back temblors on June 24, with both 7+-magnitude earthquakes occurring less than a minute apart. As of Monday, more than 3,500 people died in the disaster.
On Sunday, the K-9s were honored in a touching ceremony that involved medals.
“These dogs worked alongside their handlers through collapsed structures and dangerous debris, searching for survivors when hope was running thin,” the department wrote in a social media post.
Recognition like this reminds us that disaster response is a global effort — and sometimes the bravest first responders wear a harness instead of a badge.
The K-9s and crew were given a hero’s welcome on Monday upon their return home.
“We keep the Venezuelan people in our thoughts and prayers as they recover and rebuild,” LACoFD said online.
Original reporting: NBC4 Los Angeles — read the source article.
