Tennessee Task Force teams help with fires, hurricane

September 17, 2020 at 2:00 p.m. | Updated September 17, 2020 at 1:13 p.m.

by Associated Press

Flood waters move on the street, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2020, in Pensacola, Fla. Hurricane Sally made landfall Wednesday near Gulf Shores, Alabama, as a Category 2 storm, pushing a surge of ocean water onto the coast and dumping torrential rain that forecasters said would cause dangerous flooding from the Florida Panhandle to Mississippi and well inland in the days ahead.(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Flood waters move on the street, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2020, in Pensacola, Fla. Hurricane Sally made landfall Wednesday near Gulf Shores, Alabama, as a Category 2 storm, pushing a surge of ocean water onto the coast and dumping torrential rain that forecasters said would cause dangerous flooding from the Florida Panhandle to Mississippi and well inland in the days ahead.(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- A task force based in Memphis, Tennessee, has sent team members to Oregon to help with the wildfires and to Mississippi to assist in recovery efforts related to Hurricane Sally.

Memphis Fire Department spokesman Wayne Cooke said Wednesday that four K-9 handlers and their dog partners with the Tennessee Task Force arrived late Tuesday in Salem, Oregon, to help firefighters and other first responders with wildfires in the area.

Cooke said 45 members of the task force with the ability to work on water rescues arrived in Hammond, Louisiana, earlier this week.

The team of firefighters, paramedics, doctors, engineers and K-9 handlers have since been moved to Meridian, Mississippi, where they are awaiting orders to respond to flooding and other problems caused by Hurricane Sally.

Cooke says the length of time that both teams will be deployed is uncertain.

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