The Colorado National Guard and other local first responders are joining those currently in Florida to assist with ongoing recovery efforts following Hurricane Milton. 

The Guard announced Wednesday that they deployed one CH-47 Chinook helicopter and eight crew members to Florida from Aurora Tuesday morning in preparation for hurricane response.

The action comes in response to an Emergency Management Assistance Compact request by the Florida National Guard. The EMAC is a national partnership allowing state-to-state assistance during state or federally declared emergencies. 

The Colorado Guard will join with other National Guard units to form a larger task force.

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“Our unit has been closely following Hurricane Milton’s development and the National Guard’s response,” U.S. Army Lt. Col. Joe Bryant said. “Last week, the National Guard Bureau reached out to the force asking for available EMAC aid. We responded, and they accepted.”

The unit previously supported relief efforts during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Colorado floods in 2013, and the Nebraska floods in 2019.

The National Guard will join Colorado Task Force 1, which is composed of local firefighters throughout Colorado, following their efforts in assisting with Hurricane Helene relief.

Colorado Task Force 1 is one of 28 US&R task forces nationwide under the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency, National Urban Search & Rescue Response System. They represent 22 fire agencies from across the Front Range including West and South Metro Fire, Denver, Colorado Springs, Greeley and Adams County.

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It’s been a busy two weeks with the back-to-back hurricanes. Two weeks ago, Colorado Task Force 1 members traveled by truck with their equipment to Chattanooga, Tenn., which took 22 hours. Then they redeployed to North Carolina, where they stayed in a church with bathrooms, but no electricity or running water. They then relocated to Fort Blanding, Fla., near Jacksonville in anticipation of Hurricane Milton, where they joined six other FEMA teams already in place.

On Oct. 8, the Colorado Springs Fire Department announced they would be sending an additional 10 members down to Florida as well as Milton approaches land.

CSFD has 17 total members assigned to Colorado Task Force 1.

Sixteen additional team members flew out of Denver around 1:30 a.m. on Wednesday into Jacksonville, Fla., before joining the rest of the team in Fort Blanding.

They were followed by 55 more team members from Denver around 5 p.m. Wednesday. The four firefighters Colorado Springs firefighters currently stationed there will soon be transitioned to come home.

There will be a total of 80 Colorado task force members on the ground in Florida once the transition takes place. The team is expected to stay at the fort until the storm passes, and then be reassigned where needed.

Wednesday afternoon, Hurricane Milton — rated at a Category 3 began bringing heavy rain and tornadoes to the Florida coast.

The teams will conduct water and wide-area search and rescue, and do structure collapse work.

“It’s very unusual to see so much hurricane activity in such a short amount of time,” said West Metro Fire Public Information Officer Ronda Scholting. “The team members have been away from home for two weeks and one of them is coming home because his wife is expecting a baby any day.”