Tampa Fire Rescue K-9 team helps search for missing people in Maui
By Stassy Olmos
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TAMPA (WFTS) — As families and friends wait for answers about missing loved ones, 350 search and rescue teams are on the ground in Maui.
It’s a dangerous job in the heat and piles of charred debris, which has called for the skill of more than 40 K-9 cadaver dogs from search and rescue teams across the country.
A Google spreadsheet titled “Maui Fires People Locator” still lists nearly 900 people “not located” as of Saturday evening.
“It boggles the mind, and it doesn’t really compute on why you’re seeing what you’re seeing because it’s just not natural,” Tampa Fire Rescue Lt. Brian Smithey and K-9 search specialist with Florida Task Force 2 told ABC Action News.
Smithey has responded to dozens of disasters since the aftermath of 911.
Smithey and his K-9 cadaver dog, Probie, a 3-year-old Labrador Retriever, got the call to help last week, leaving for the island on Wednesday.
“Our day starts at about 3:30 in the morning getting up, then a little after 4, we start preparing the dogs — wrapping their feet, put their booties on, all that stuff. We’re dealing with extremely high temperatures on the ground, so we got to protect the feet,” Smithey explained. “That takes about 20, 30 minutes per dog, and then we’re done. We begin work about 6 in the morning and basically go to dark.”
This is Probie’s second deployment. His first was Hurricane Ian.
“I have to say the Hawaiian people, they have embraced us like really no other,” Smithey said. “I had the opportunity to talk to a couple of people. All they have is their shirt on their back, and they have lost family members, and they’re thanking us for being here to help to find their family and friends, and it’s hard to listen to them say that, and so we’re just going out, trying to do the best job we can.”
Smithey said they will be there for as long as they’re needed.
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