SURFSIDE, Fla — Hillsborough's Task Force 3 heavy rigging team has been working this week to remove concrete by crane off the collapsed apartment building in Surfside, Florida.
The team says the work is careful and tedious, but it is also grueling and dangerous. The team uses jackhammers, pry bars, and heavy-duty circular saws to cut through the concrete and rebar.
After each piece is secure, the large pieces of concrete and often even long stretches a support column can be carefully removed from the site by crane. Underneath, where each piece is removed, an opportunity exists to find another opening or another pocket.
The heavy rigging assignments often have gone to the Task Force 3 team because of their extensive training and expertise. Their hard work is part of a process that is shrinking the rubble pile as teams search for victims. Florida Task Force 3 is made up of firefighters from Hillsborough County Fire Rescue, Tampa Fire Rescue, and St. Petersburg Fire Rescue.
