From connectionnewspapers.com:

It was a bittersweet homecoming for 74 members of the Fairfax County Urban Search and Rescue team as they returned in the early morning hours of March 20 from a mission to the devastated Sendai region of Japan, where a 9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami combined forces leaving an estimated 8,649 people dead and 13,261 still missing.

“We never experienced anything like this before,” said task force leader Bob Zoldos of the March 11 catastrophe. “The damage and destruction was incredibly widespread. The tsunami moved many of the victims from their original location, which made finding survivors more difficult.”
Also known as Virginia Task Force 1, the team spent a week alongside teams from around the world searching for survivors, without any success.

Continue reading…Search and Rescue Team Returns From Japan
VATF-1 returns home as rescue operation turns to recovery.

Check out this related story about Firehouse Subs helping out before they left:

From Fairfax City Patch:

Firehouse Subs in Fairfax Towne Center rounded up all its employees and made 125 subs in two hours to feed the USAID rescue team from Fairfax before they left for Japan on March 11.

The Fairfax County Fire Academy is located right down the road from Firehouse Subs.  All Fairfax County fire and rescue personnel train there before they are fully certified to go out on the line.  The Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) facility is also located on the same grounds.  They have one of the four best training facilities for search and rescue. Firefighters from all over the world come to Fairfax to train.  Search and rescue dogs also train at the facility.

Continue reading… Firehouse Subs Rushes to Fill 125-Sub Order for Local Heroes

Here are some related video to Fairfax and other crews efforts in Japan:

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