Assistant Chief Doug Westhoff of the Boone County Fire Protection District and Program Manager of Missouri Task Force 1 has been deployed through the Federal Emergency Management Agency as the Deputy Incident Commander for the Federal Incident Support Team (IST) in Moore, OK. Members of the IST will be in place tonight and will begin coordination efforts immediately with the local jurisdictions and have assignments in place for the three task forces currently deployed. Tennessee, Texas and Nebraska Task Forces are currently enroute to Moore, OK and are anticipated to arrive in the early morning hours. Once they arrive the Incident Support Team will have identified missions for the teams.

Currently Missouri Task Force 1, one of only 28 Urban Search and Rescue Task Forces in the country, has been put on alert as the fourth closest team and have rostered a full Type I team of 80 people. Should the call come in for Missouri Task Force 1 to respond, the Type I team would deploy from the Boone County Fire Protection District Headquarters in a matter of a few hours. That Type I team consists of 80 members including four search canines and over 100,000 pounds of specialty equipment. ...