A roomful of sixth-graders sat in awe as they looked at the slides of destruction from the Asian tsunami. Lt. Mark Stone, a member of Fairfax County’s Urban Search and Rescue Team, was one of six team members who went to one of the hardest hit areas of Indonesia. He came to Waples Mill Elementary on March 2 to share his experiences.
"There are few teams like them in the U.S.," said Yusef Azimi, a teacher at Waples Mill, as he introduced Stone.
The full team, Stone explained, is made up of 74 people and six dogs. Over the past few years, Stone estimated that team members have been deployed to 15 to 17 disasters in the United States and across the world. "More than any other team in the country," he said.
Stone showed slides of entire towns, miles from the shore, that were wiped out by the tsunami. "It literally just took communities and made them go away," he said. "There were more victims than I ever thought I’d see in my life."
His time there, he said, generated conflicting emotions. "Our exposure was very tragic, but also very heartening," Stone said. While the loss of life was staggering, he was impressed by the way the survivors tried to get back to normal. "Everywhere we went, kids were being kids. Grown-ups were going back to work and trying to do something. That made us want to do it that much more."
THE FAIRFAX COUNTY team has members in different fire and rescue stations across the county. "Their expertise is spread throughout the county," said Renee Stilwell, a spokesperson for the Fire and Rescue Department. The Urban Search and Rescue Team consists of firefighters, doctors and engineers. Their primary duty is to serve county citizens and to help people who are trapped in buildings. The team brings its own food, water and power supplies so it is able to go into a disaster area and be completely self-sufficient for three days. For the next 10-14 days, the team requires minimal supplies. "We don’t want to be a burden to their disaster," Stone said.
In the case of the tsunami, the group rendezvoused at Dulles Airport on New Year’s Eve and went to fly out to Asia. "We didn’t even know where we were going," Stone said.
The Fairfax team went to assess the situation and try to direct relief efforts. Team members assessed what sort of relief aid the people would need, so that the government would not send unnecessary equipment. "We wanted to know exactly what they needed," Stone said.
The team also consisted of engineers who surveyed roads, bridges and buildings for damage to try and determine if the infrastructure was in working condition.
The conditions began to wear on Stone and his companions. "Every day it rained," he said. The ground was always muddy, and the dreariness of the situation took its toll. "Five of us worked out of this little tent in the mud."