Marion County agencies respond to calls for hurricane aid in Big Bend

Members of Marion County Fire Rescue, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, Ocala Fire Rescue, Ocala Police Department and Gainesville Fire Rescue responded to the Fort Myers/Port Charlotte area to assist in recovery efforts following Hurricane Ian as part of Florida Urban Search and Rescue Task Force 8 [Courtesy of Marion County].

The Florida Search and Rescue Task Force 8, partly composed of Marion County agencies, will respond to aid search and rescue efforts in the Big Bend region of Florida where Hurricane Idalia made landfall Wednesday, according to Marion County Fire Rescue.

Hurricane Idalia made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane around 7:45 a.m. on Wednesday near Keaton Beach, 74 miles southeast of Tallahassee on the Gulf Coast of Florida.

MCFR, Ocala Fire Rescue and Gainesville Fire Rescue all make up Task Force 8. The team specializes in urban search and rescue efforts, according to the Marion County website.

MCFR and OFR both confirmed the agencies’ involvement in the task force on Wednesday.

“Florida Urban Search and Rescue Task Force 8 is deploying to the Big Bend area. They are linking up with other Florida USAR Task Forces to conduct primary and secondary searches and water rescues of the affected areas,” said Marion County Fire Rescue spokesperson James Lucas via email.

Task Force 8 played a role in search and rescue efforts following the catastrophic damage to southwest Florida after Hurricane Ian made landfall in September of last year.

The Marion County Sheriff’s Office will provide aid for hurricane relief separate from the task force, according to MCSO spokesperson Lt. Paul Bloom.

“We are responding to the area of Madison County now to assist them,” Bloom said via email. “We are now also sending one of our aviation units to the area of Cedar Key at their request.”

A spokesperson from OPD also could not offer any information on the matter as of Wednesday.