PRESS RELEASE – April 18, 2020  The Oklahoma City Bombing Twenty Five Years Later w After Action Report

Menlo Park Fire Protection District

The Oklahoma City Bombing

Twenty Five Years Later

Bay Area Rescue Team won’t be headed back to Oklahoma or having its own memorial service locally on April 19, 2020 (Sunday) due to the Pandemic!

After Action Report Provided!

After Action Report CA-TF3 - Oklahoma City Bombing - 4-19-1995.pdf

Members of California Urban Search and Rescue Task Force 3 work to remove a dangerous hanging floor section from the ninth floor of the Murrah Building – Look up and left

Members of California Urban Search and Rescue Task Force 3 work to remove a dangerous hanging floor section from the ninth floor of the Murrah Building – Looking Down

Members of California Urban Search and Rescue Task Force 3 take a team picture on their last day of operations at the Oklahoma City Bombing – May 1 1995 - Credit Menlo Fire

Twenty five years after responding to the Oklahoma City Bombing, members of California Urban Search and Rescue Task Force 3 won’t be heading back to Oklahoma or having a local service at the memorial they built at their Training Center in Menlo Park, thanks to the COVID 19 Pandemic. 64 firefighters and civilian technical specialists along with four search dogs responded to the worst act of domestic terrorism that has ever occurred in our life time in the heartland of the United States, killing 168 people, of which 19 were children, and injuring another 759 others.

Fire Chief Schapelhouman said “we had been discussing this for the last year, a large group of us went back for the first anniversary and again when the memorial officially opened, fifteen years ago. But with the Pandemic, all those plans, including a service at our own memorial here in Menlo Park, just isn’t going to be possible. Four of us are still on the job at the Fire District, so leaving isn’t even a consideration at this point, because it’s all hands on-deck given this emergency. What I’ll miss most is interacting with the locals and the families who were most impacted, they treated us so well, it was hard to leave. After the World Trade Center Collapse Deployment on 9-11-01, a number of us were being interviewed and the reporter said,” I’ll bet this was worst disaster you’ve ever responded too”, about five of who had responded to both events said no, it was the Oklahoma City Bombing. I remember thinking that only I had felt that way. As we talked about it, we all realized how much it had affected us and changed our lives. Twenty five years later and with a Global Pandemic going on, resilience, mental toughness, perspective and a healthy balance and appreciation of how good life has been and still is, despite significant hurdles I’ve had to personally overcome, due to a humbling and major life changing injury, helps me navigate most challenges with courage, a deep appreciation to be in this moment, and not fear or dread, that I see so many people struggling with right now”.

Members of California Task Force 3 work to respectfully recover three victims of the Oklahoma City Bombing

The Task Forces Memorial in Menlo Park is at the Teams Training Center near the Dumbarton Bridge. It was cleaned Wednesday. Flowers and flags will be placed at the site prior to Sunday. The columns and granite slab are all actual components of the former Murrah Building. It is the largest actual bombing remembrance memorial, outside of Oklahoma City – Credit Menlo Fire

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