Toronto (CAN-TF3) Heavy Urban Search and Rescue

HUSAR is the Toronto Heavy Urban Search and Rescue unit CAN-TF3 - an urban search and rescue unit able to respond to disaster situations at a city, provincial and national level, as well as offer international assistance.

Heavy Urban Search and Rescue / Canada Task Force 3
Agency overview
Formed2001
Preceding agency
JurisdictionToronto
HeadquartersToronto
Employees130
Annual budgetCAD $500,000 (2018)
Agency executive
  • Matthew Pegg, Fire Chief, Toronto Fire Services
Child agency
  • Toronto Fire Hazmat Team
WebsiteHUSAR

CAN-TF3 is operated by Toronto Fire Services, in collaboration with Toronto Police Service and Toronto EMS created to deal with search and rescue operations in the City of Toronto.[1] This specialized unit was created following the September 11 attacks in New York City, United States and allows the city to deal with large-scale disasters. The unit can respond to situations outside of the city, and offer provincial, national, as well as international assistance.

The cities of Vancouver,[2] Calgary,[3] and the province of Manitoba, also currently have, or are developing, similar interoperable Heavy USAR capacity.[4]

Roles and responsibilities

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  • Search and Rescue
  • Emergency Medical Services
  • Planning & Technical Information
  • Logistics
  • Command

Equipment

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Product list and details
Make/Model Type Purpose Origin
Ford F250 van OSU-1 Search & Communications ex-Toronto Paramedic Services 927 Type 2 ambulance
Ford F600/Dependable Emergency Equipment truck OSU-2 Incident Support Unit ex-East York Fire Department Rescue # 2
Ford Louisville 9000 tractor and trailer OSU-3 Base of Operations ex-commercial trailer
1990s Volvo VHD roll on-off truck OSU-4 (Shoring Unit) ex-City of Toronto Works Department truck
Ford 3500 series bus OSU-5 Search Dog Unit ex-school bus
Western Star CNV tractor and trailer OSU-6 Rescue Unit ex-pop deliver truck
Princeton Piggyback/BIC Hydraulics All Terrain Forklift Support Units
Argo Response ATV all terrain transport
John Deere Gator TH 6X4 ATV field transport
MCI 102 Highway Coach bus personnel transport ex-GO Transit bus

Deployments

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A list of major deployments of CAN-TF3:

See also

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Other similar units

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References

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  1. ^ "HUSAR". Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2007-02-08.
  2. ^ Harrington, Jeff (2015-05-02). "Vancouver's Heavy Urban Search and Rescue team disappointed it's not in Nepal". CBC News. Archived from the original on 2020-11-08. Retrieved 2024-05-02.
  3. ^ "Canada Task Force 2". Archived from the original on 2024-03-25. Retrieved 2024-05-02.
  4. ^ "Heavy Urban Search and Rescue (HUSAR)" Archived 2011-09-30 at the Wayback Machine, Public Safety Canada
  5. ^ "Enbridge fined in fatal 2003 explosion | CityNews". www.citytv.com. Archived from the original on 19 January 2013. Retrieved 3 February 2022.