Rescue team can’t describe the devastation

Angela Soo

Monday, Oct. 1, 2001 | 8:50 a.m.

Members of Nevada's Urban Search and Rescue Team returned to Las Vegas Sunday after spending four days in the ashy remains of the World Trade Center, helping in the recovery effort.

The 62-member group -- which includes local firefighters, police officers, search dogs, two emergency room physicians and structural engineers -- left Wednesday to relieve Federal Emergency Management Agency search and rescue units from other parts of the United States.

As the firefighters stepped out of a bus one by one at the Clark County Fire Department Training Center, a crowd of family and friends gathered to welcome dads, husbands, sons and brothers home.

"I'm glad I'm back with my family," Scott Webster, a Clark County firefighter, said. "I have always appreciated life every day."

An American Red Cross volunteer who was providing mental health services at the Pentagon in Washington also returned late Saturday. Evelyn Halstead was scheduled to meet with the media this morning at the American Red Cross Southern Nevada Chapter headquarters.

The search and rescue team's K-9 unit, on its first day, recovered two bodies -- a woman and a New York City firefighter.

"It was sad," said Metro Police K-9 Officer Steve Junge, whose dog, Breston, sniffed out the body. "There's such a strong brotherhood among the New York firefighters that no one could really imagine what they were going through."

The fallen firefighter was carried out of the rubble, cloaked in an American flag, Junge said.

"But I want to be back there to finish it," Junge said. "A lot of work still needs to be done."

Firefighters worked 12-hour shifts, Clark County firefighter Bart Eliason said.

"I still remember the first glance I got at the site," Eliason said. "We were taken by bus, and when we came around the corner, words can't describe it. It was mass devastation."

The destruction didn't seem real, firefighter Karl Kendrick said.

"The scope of the incident and the damage really is unbelievable," Kendrick said. "The pictures don't do justice. Even though I was there, it seemed like a dream. It didn't seem real. It still hasn't sunk in yet.

"It was a humbling experience, and we were all honored to go," Kendrick said.