SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — Two members of the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department Urban Search & Rescue California Task Force 8 team are still recovering in a hospital in Louisiana after being injured in a serious car accident while heading to North Carolina to help with Hurricane Helene relief efforts.
Sunday night, about a week after the crash, the rest of the task force members returned to San Diego, greeted by fellow firefighters with hugs and applause.
The team returned as part of a convoy of 18 vehicles that included two semis loaded with equipment. 45 of the task force members were deployed to Charlotte, North Carolina to help in the aftermath of the hurricane before the crash near the Texas-Louisiana border that left three task force members injured, two severely.
Firefighters with the task force began returning home on Thursday, with several more following on Friday although they were delayed by weather. The rest returned Sunday.
Injured Captain Greg Davies was released from the hospital on Tuesday, and was greeted by his wife and family at the airport on Friday. The other two injured task force members — Battalion Chief Aide Barbat and Cpt. Jesse Schultz — remain in the hospital in critical condition.
The department says at least one SDFD task force member remains in Louisiana to support Barbat and Schultz.
