SURFSIDE, Fla. – For so many people, Friday was a very emotional day, as it marked one year since the collapse of the Champlain Towers South building in Surfside that claimed the lives of 98 people.
And for a lot of first responders, it was their first time being back to the area since they left a year ago.
“It’s raw. It’s fresh for a lot of the members who were out here working the collapse,” Florida Task Force 1 Chief Brandon Webb said.
Webb leads Miami-Dade Fire Rescue’s Urban Search and Rescue team.
Within an hour of the condo collapse in Surfside last year, he was at the scene and he spent the next 30 days leading his team in their efforts.
“We spent a lot of time here and when we left, we didn’t come back,” Webb said.
Webb’s team worked 9/11, the Oklahoma City bombings and so many other disasters, but he says this one, being right in their backyard, felt personal. They received help from teams from all over the country and even the globe.
“Ever since, we keep in touch with the Miami-Dade task forces, we exchange missions, we trained one another,” Israel Defense Forces Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin said. “We kept in touch with the families and it was very important for us to be here today.”
One year later, he and so many other first responders returned for the first time with mixed emotions.
“It’s difficult and it’s also reassuring, so I like seeing the street re-paved, I like seeing the new sidewalks and the plants are new,” Webb said. “The city is recovering but at the same time, it’s still very raw.”
Just before the memorial Friday, first responders from all over filed in to pay their respects and show their support.
“We consider them part of our family -- they’re our neighbors and our friends,” Webb said.
“They did it with such honor and dignity and I just remember thinking to myself the entire time that if my children were there, they were the ones that I would want because they have the passion, the expertise, the experience,” City of Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said.
But, for some, it was just too difficult to come back.
“Many of our members could not come today because of they couldn’t bear the pain of coming back here,” Andre Roitman, the director of Hatzalah South Florida, said.
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