PORTLAND, Ore. — As of Friday night, more than 75 people have died in the condominium collapse in South Florida, and more than 60 people are still unaccounted for. If anybody knows what that community is going through, it's Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue (TVF&R) Lt. Jeff Campbell.
"This collapse was completely abnormal and tragic," he said.
Campbell and two colleagues, Brandon Henry and Kyle Leonard, are part of TVF&R's Peer Support Team. They spent the first week of July in the Miami area.
"Our job is to be a bridge," Campbell said. "We listen and hand out resources."
Campbell said he and his team, along with similar teams from Boston and New York, supported the urban search-and-rescue (U-SAR) crews at the collapse site. They also made station visits and talked with more than 400 firefighters and paramedics across Miami.
"There was a lot of sadness," Campbell said. "There's a lot of fatigue especially among the U-SAR team members working 12-hour shifts. There's a lot of guilt. Crews that didn't get down to help out. A lot of people want to help."
Campbell said a Miami firefighter lost his wife and daughter in the collapse. A moment that sticks out to Campbell was supporting the search-and-rescue team that found the little girl.
"That was pretty heavy for us as a team and everyone on that site to find one of your own," he said.
TVF&R's Peer Support Team was created in 2018. More than 60 people from across the agency trained over a two-day period. The team is available 24 hours a day to help a colleague in need, debrief crews following a difficult call, and assist fire departments across the region and in this case, across the country.
"I think it's very important," Campbell said. "20% of firefighters in the United States and Canada will experience PTSD during their career. PTSD if not treated will lead to people not finishing their careers."
The Peer Support Team is working to lower the numbers. Their work on the ground in Florida goes a long way in achieving that.
"It's such an honor to be asked to go on such a huge incident like that," Campbell said. "It's an honor to represent the state of Oregon and Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue and Local 1660. I know we made an impact."