First responders from Triangle heading to coast to help Dorian victims

As coastal residents evacuate from Hurricane Dorian's path, dozens of first responders from the Triangle are heading toward the storm.

Posted 10:00 p.m. Sep 4, 2019 — Updated 11:40 p.m. Sep 5, 2019

Aaron Thomas

, WRAL reporter

RALEIGH, N.C. — As coastal residents evacuate from Hurricane Dorian's path, dozens of first responders from the Triangle are heading toward the storm.

North Carolina Task Force 8, made up of about 40 first responders from fire departments in Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill, as well as Wake County EMS, plan to help find and rescue victims in communities heavily affected by the hurricane.

Team members plan to spend up to 10 days in the eastern part of the state, and they said such deployments after hurricanes have become common in recent years.

"We’ve been, last four years, been in different areas of the country and state," said task force member Zach Reynolds, a Raleigh firefighter.

Cary swift water rescue team ready to respond to Dorian

Fifteen of the team members will use inflatable rafts and motorboats to help with water rescue efforts, while the other members will help with structural collapses in the area.

Even though team members are ready and willing to help hurricane victims, Reynolds said residents at the coast and those in disaster-prone areas could help matters if they follow mandatory evacuation orders.

"Listen to local personnel. If they say evacuate, evacuate," he said. "That makes our life easier on the front. If a storm comes through and it’s swift-moving currents, people are driving through water, things like that, washed out roadways, that puts us in a predicament and a dangerous situation to come and assist someone."

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