Features

Firefighter Returns to FEMA Job By RICHARD BRENNEMAN

Tuesday September 27, 2005

After a brief respite from his work of recovering the bodies of victims of Hurricane Katrina in Biloxi, Miss., Berkeley Fire Department Lt. Darren Bobrosky is at it again. 

This time, he’s in Dallas, Texas, preparing for similar efforts in towns ravaged by Hurricane Rita. 

This time, Bobrosky is the only Berkeley emergency worker called by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), said Deputy Fire Chief David P. Orth. 

For the Katrina rescue efforts, FEMA sent three city firefighters and two health care workers to the scene. 

Bobrosky was called up on Thursday, just 11 days after his return home from his stint in Mississippi. 

“He was supposedly on the third tier for call-up,” Orth said, “but they called him anyway.” 

Bobrosky is part of a 27-member search and rescue task force that includes members from the Alameda County, Oakland, Fremont, Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, Santa Rosa and other Bay Area fire departments. 

Of 28 such teams nationally, eight are based in California. 

“They will probably do search work in small communities with heavy damage,” said Orth. “We don’t expect him back for another week or two.” 

When not engaged in national disaster rescue work, Bobrosky heads the department’s rescue dog program.