HARRISBURG — A big step toward giving Western Pennsylvania its own urban search and rescue team — the sort that might have helped quickly after the Fern Hollow Bridge collapse — could be taken this week.
A bipartisan bill that would create a state-funded team in Allegheny County is likely to be approved Wednesday by the Senate Veterans Affairs & Emergency Preparedness Committee. Its prime sponsor, Sen. Devlin Robinson, R-Allegheny, said the need is urgent, given that a study published about 20 years ago recommended such a Western Pennsylvania team.
Currently, the state’s main urban search-and-rescue team is based in Philadelphia, with smaller ones scattered elsewhere in the state. A suitable home base for the proposed Western Pennsylvania team would be the Pittsburgh Fire Department, Mr. Robinson said.
Sen. Jay Costa, D-Allegheny and also a sponsor of the bill, cited the Jan. 28, 2022 collapse of the Fern Hollow Bridge as an example of the need. While no one died in the collapse, it took about six hours for search-and-rescue personnel to arrive.
“The delay in getting the search and rescue folks to the sites sometimes has proved to be a challenge,” Mr. Costa said.
The Philadelphia-based unit is a FEMA-designated Urban Search & Rescue Task Force, run entirely with federal money. There are 28 such “Type 1” teams in the U.S.. Each has 70 members who include specialists in search, rescue and hazardous materials, as well as doctors, structural engineers and canine search teams.
Mr. Robinson’s bill proposes a “Type 3” team that he said would have about half the personnel and resources of a Type 1 team. It would be entirely state-funded.
Randy Padfield, director of the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency, said at an Aug. 1 hearing that the second task force isn’t necessary. Mr. Padfield said the state should instead improve its “organized tier response system” and consider the cost of “a statewide refresh” of the existing, in-state search and rescue system.
The August hearing was held in Moon Township, in the district of Rep. Valerie Gaydos, R-Allegheny. On Friday, Ms. Gaydos said she disagreed with Mr. Padfield’s suggestion.
“That doesn’t solve our problem of having search and rescue available on short notice,” Ms. Gaydos said. PEMA spokesperson Ruth Miller said on Friday the Shapiro administration is still reviewing the legislation.
A similar bill is awaiting action in the House. Rep. Mark Gillen, R-Berks and the top Republican on the House Veterans Affairs & Emergency Preparedness Committee, said, “Anytime you have assets closer to home, it is a plus.”
Mr. Gillen said he believes the proposal for a new team in Pittsburgh will move through both the Senate and House.
“I think if the case is made that it makes the community safer or the region safer, it would be hard to vote against it,” he said. “I think there probably is going to be bipartisan support for this.”
Ford Turner: fturner@post-gazette.com
First Published: September 18, 2023, 9:30 a.m.
Updated: September 18, 2023, 3:40 p.m.