COLUMBUS, Ohio — Members of Ohio Task Force 1 will depart from the site of the Surfside, Fla. condo collapse Tuesday as recovery efforts begin to wind down.
“It is simply impossible for us, as a team, to express our thanks and gratitude for the support we have received from all over the Ohio region. The messages of support have been unwavering and vast in number. We thank all of you for your support of our team’s efforts,” said Phil Sinewe, the team’s public information officer, in a press release.
Around 80 members have been assisting crews at the site of the former Champlain Towers South building near Miami Beach, which partially collapsed June 24. The task force departed from Ohio on June 30.
Photo courtesy of Ohio Task Force 1’s Facebook page.
The team is comprised of fire, police and medical responders, including members of the Dayton Fire Department, the Toledo Fire & Rescue Department, Huber Heights Fire Division and the Sharonville Fire Department, among other agencies.
As of Monday morning, the 19th day of search efforts, 94 people have died.
Last Sunday, crews completely demolished the building, allowing access to new areas of debris in hopes of finding survivors.
Some voids where survivors could have been trapped did exist, mostly in the basement and the parking garage, but no one was found alive. Instead, teams recovered more than a dozen additional victims.
On Wednesday, workers shifted their mission from search and rescue to recovery after concluding that there was “no chance of life” in the rubble.
Miami-Dade Fire Chef Alan Cominsky said last week it’s unclear how long the recovery mission will be, but that crews are making progress.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
