St. Louis Co. Fire Departments On Colorado Task Force

Several firefighters from St. Louis County area departments have been deployed to Colorado as part of a FEMA Urban Search and Rescue team assisting authorities there inundated by flooding. USA Today reports there are more than 1,000 people missing as the state endures historic flooding.

Three people from West County EMS, including Chief Ernie Rhodes, Deputy Chief Tim Dorsey and Battalion Chief Kelly Grassmuck, along with two members of the Metro West Fire Protection District and one person from the Monarch Fire Protection District were deployed as part of Missouri Task Force 1 on Saturday night, officials confirmed Monday.

Rhodes is a Division Supervisor for TF-1, and a spokesman for West County EMS said Dorsey had ironically spent the past several weeks involved in water rescue training exercises.

The Task Force is headquartered out of the Boone County Fire Protection District, which indicated on the department's Facebook page that the team was starting work in the area of Estes Park, CO, west of Loveland and in the Big Thompson Canyon.

The Task Force could be in service for up to 14 days.