Area firefighter part of Olympic emergency team

Cathy Scott

Friday, July 12, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

A 22-year Clark County firefighter is heading for the Summer Games in Atlanta, but he won't be watching the Olympics.

Steve Hanson, an emergency medical services coordinator, will leave for Atlanta at midnight tonight as a member of an emergency task force.

He's the only one from the local Federal Emergency Management Agency team being deployed to the Summer Games, he said.

"They're deploying me in anticipation of any problems," Hanson said.

Hanson, 44, is part of the team that is supporting an urban rescue task force in case a disaster or other problem should hit the area.

He'll stay in Atlanta through July 21, working in the information and planning section in the Olympics' Incident Support Team.

Hanson, who has been on the FEMA team since it started in 1992, said he was asked to go to Atlanta "because of my involvement and the work we did for them" as a member of the group that went to Oklahoma City for two weeks after the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building bombing on April 19, 1995.

He described the Oklahoma City deployment as "quite an experience" and "something I'll never forget."

As for the Olympics in Atlanta, he said he doesn't expect to watch the Games, which begin July 19.

"I doubt very seriously that I'll get to see any of the Olympic Games," Hanson said. "I'm sure we'll get to see some of the areas and the facilities they're taking place in, because they'll have to familiarize us with the area in case pf problems. But I doubt very seriously I'll be able to see anything. I'll be helping to support the task forces."

FEMA is a federally funded emergency assistance agency that assists in disaster relief.