ROSEVILLE, Calif — Roseville Fire Chief Rick Bartee is among the team responding to the devastating wildfires in Maui, Hawaii.
Bartee is the Incident Support Team Leader of the FEMA Urban Search and Rescue Task Force. He briefed President Joe Biden on the search for the people still missing in the fires, Monday.
This isn't the first national incident team Bartee has been part of.
Bartee previously told ABC10 he's been a member of the FEMA Urban Search and Rescue division since 1992. He's responded to multiple emergencies including 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina. He also responded to the December tornadoes in Kentucky to assist local agencies with search and rescue operations.
The Roseville Fire Department is part of California Task Force 7, which also includes the Sacramento Fire Department, the Folsom Fire Department and others. These teams have special training that can include collapse rescue, heavy rigging, hazardous materials, canine search teams, technical search and other training.
Bartee previously told ABC10 he brings back the skills and experience he gets responding to these disasters to California.
"I can't emphasize enough how we bring what we learn back to our local localities where we work. And if we ever have an incident like that, we're better prepared to be able to handle those incidents," Bartee said.
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