Search and rescue during Hurricane Helene in Asheville, N.C., was exactly the type of mission Ocean City Firefighter and EMT Matt Long hoped to help out with when he decided to apply for a New Jersey Task Force 1 position. 

Long, who serves as an urban search and rescue specialist with NJ-TF1, was deployed to Asheville when Hurricane Helene turned toward the state. Aside from the Asheville Fire Department, NJ-TF1 was the only emergency agency there for days, since they arrived before the storm hit shore.

Asheville sustained treacherous damage when the Category 4 hurricane swept ashore on Sept. 26, destroying countless buildings, homes, shops and entire neighborhoods.  

“I wanted to work, train and deploy at the highest level,” Long said. 

Long said first and foremost, his wife, Brittany, and two daughters inspire and allow for him to be able to do what he does. 

“The driving force behind me is that I’m a husband and a father to two little girls,” he said. “They’re the ones that allow me to fill those other roles. They’re my support system.”  

Becoming a rescue specialist

When Long realized he wanted to help others for a living, he decided to become a firefighter and EMT.

He started volunteering for the Marmora Fire Department once challenged by his mom, went to fire school, then joined the Wildwood Fire Department. In 2019, he transferred from Wildwood to the Ocean City Fire Department and has served on countless calls in Ocean City since then. 

“I never cared so much about being a rich man,” Long said. “The purpose of this job is helping others and having a positive impact on people’s lives, which to me is more motivating and fulfilling than money.” 

The next step for Long was to apply to join NJ-TF1, one of 28 Federal Emergency Management Agency urban search and rescue teams across the country that respond and operate in times of disaster, specializing in building collapses.

    NJTF1 and the Asheville Fire Department perform joint water rescue operations.  

NJ-TF1 has 250 members across the state, six of whom are from Cape May County. Long waited five years for the position he had applied for in NJ-TF1 to even open up for a new member.  

Long said the tryout process for NJ-TF1 was extremely rigorous and challenging. With hundreds of applicants in the beginning of the hiring process, only 20 are offered positions.  

The first step in the process included resume review and scored interviews. From there, 50 applicants moved on to a four-hour, hands-on test, where they fix problems, utilize equipment, build things, and recite the proper safety measures and plans of action for various scenarios.

After the hands-on test, a smaller set of applicants advanced to a final interview stage. Long said he was ranked third out of the 20 new NJ-TF1 members offered positions, which elated him.

Once he accepted the position, Long had more than 200 hours of volunteer training in North Jersey before being a full member of the force ready for deployment. Long said he is thankful for OCFD’s support throughout his time traveling and training for NJ-TF1. 

“We’re trained so everything is done to a T and goes smoothly,” Long said. “FEMA holds a very stringent standard, and NJ-TF1 is only one of 28 teams in the country who meet that.” 

Deployed to Asheville

As a lifelong surfer, Long pays attention to offshore storms and was well aware of Hurricane Helene’s potential severity prior to any word of deployment. When he was informed deployment was a possibility, he gathered his equipment and packed his bags.  

Around 6 p.m. on Sept. 25, Long got a call from the task force alerting him of his deployment to Asheville. At 12 a.m., 90 NJ-TF1 members embarked southward to Asheville in a convoy of F-450 trucks, boats and trailers, driving through the night.

    The hurricane causes a wide swath of destruction, including collapsed buildings.  

Long said he didn’t sleep for over 30 hours, overwhelmed with adrenaline and nerves, not knowing what to expect in the coming days. 

They arrived in Asheville before the storm hit. However, there was already some flooding and muddy conditions. Long said they checked into a hotel and quickly went to sleep. 

“We were dead tired,” he recalled. “We went to bed not knowing what the next day would bring.” 

At 5:30 a.m. on day two, Long and the rest of NJ-TF1 members were awoken by a radio alarm, alerting them to meet downstairs immediately. At the meeting, they learned of the monstrous winds and extensive flooding that had begun to cause horrific damage around the city. 

“We all met down in the lobby and everything broke loose,” Long said. “There was a building collapse nearby, a dam that was going to fail, and astronomic flooding. The city of Asheville was completely maxed out of resources, and it was go time.” 

The storm’s great floods and awful winds caused immense destruction in Asheville. Due to the severe flooding, no other agencies were able to get into the city until day three. During this time, NJ-TF1 and the Asheville Fire Department were the only agencies able to do rescues inside the town. There was no electricity, running water or phone service. 

“We were the first federal agency to get into Asheville,” Long said. “We got there the night before and the next day, we were basically cut off from everything. The bridges washed away, the roads washed away, there was no way anybody could get in or out. And if we didn’t get in when we did, it would have taken us days to get in there and set up shop and operate.”

    Search and rescue operations are done both on water and land by the NJTF1 and Los Angeles Fire Department.  

Rescues on water and land

Some NJ-TF1 members were sent out on boats for rescue missions on day two. Long was assigned to a structural collapse team, working on logistics. Roles were swapped half way through the day. Long said NJ-TF1 performed 12 live rescues on day two, and there were helicopter operations for critical patients.  

“You wouldn't see a broken-down house. You would just see piles and piles of houses that were in pieces,” Long said. “A home wasn’t disheveled; it was reduced to hundreds of pieces. And it wasn’t one or two homes. It was an entire community.” 

Long said on day three through day 16, when their deployment was concluded, all time blended together and felt like one long day. On day three, NJ-TF1 responded to multiple building collapses.

The city of Asheville gave a list of thousands of people who had not been heard from in a few days, and NJ-TF1 was sent out to find them.  

NJ-TF1 took boats, trekked through feet of mud, knocked on doors, used search dogs and looked through debris for missing persons. 

“We made initial contact with people that hadn’t been heard from or seen or tended to in days,” Long said. “We were able to direct them to resources and notify family members that they were accounted for.” 

Long said in addition to finding people who were safe and some live rescues after day two, they were able to recover many bodies of those who died. Families of the victims greatly appreciated the rescue team’s help. 

NJ-TF1 worked alongside numerous FEMA teams after day three, including collaboration missions with California Task Force 1 (CA-TF1), which is also the Los Angeles Fire Department, Long said. As NJ-TF1 operated from land, searching rubble and remains of buildings, CA-TF1 operated on the opposing side by boat, which was only accessible on water.  

“[CA-TF1] did water operations in support of our land operations. We worked hand in hand together,” Long said. “It was a coast-to-coast connection, a match made in heaven.” 

    A tracking dog assists rescuers in the search for hurricane victims.  

Long said the Asheville Fire Department rekindled the NJ-TF1 members’ spirits throughout each day by displaying their determination, courage and dedication to helping others during a time of personal tragedy.  

“They lost their houses, their belongings, their town. Some people lost family members,” Long said. “Their whole existence, everything they knew, was gone. Those guys had every reason to take a break, but showed up, never took a day off and really set the pace. I think we worked as hard as we did because those guys were the first ones up in the morning.” 

Long noted that he looks forward to visiting Asheville in the future and reuniting with members of the fire department. 

On day 16, NJ-TF1 concluded their deployment in Asheville. After a long ride back to the headquarters, Long got in his truck and drove home, excited to see his family. He began to reflect on his experience in Asheville. 

“We’ve never had this type of emergency to this scale,” he said. “It just took a lot of ingenuity and putting the pieces together to have a successful operation.”