Disasters in Europe are handled by another federally funded team in Virginia. The trips have had their highs and lows. Skip Fernandez and Aspen take a break after a night of searching the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. On their first trip to Mexico City, the group's star expert was sent home after clashes over how to conduct rescues. We could see her face, and knew she was breathing because her cheek was moving.
Dangers make the job tricky.
Firefighters must climb structures that have collapsed and are close to falling on their heads. You're never scared. Ricardo E. Garcia, who oversees the team's training of the firefighters in Latin America, and three other Miami-Dade firefighters stayed behind in Colombia to administer the distribution of 8,000 blankets and 100 rolls of plastic sheeting sent by the U.S. government. I wish we had gotten somebody out alive.