In preparation for continued tornado, hurricane, and disaster response, CASE Power & Equipment of Florida and CASE Construction Equipment each provided equipment and attachments to veteran-led disaster response organization, Team Rubicon’s latest Disaster Training Camp, held at the Camp Shands Boy Scouts Camp in Hawthorne, Florida. The training camp prepared Team Rubicon volunteers for the work they will encounter in real disaster deployments, while simultaneously completing site improvement projects at the Boy Scouts camp.
The disaster training included heavy equipment operators — working with CASE compact track loaders and grapple buckets — training alongside sawyer (chainsaw) teams to showcase real world route clearance and disaster cleanup operations critical in tornado and hurricane responses. The training event resulted in 26 new sawyers and sawyer instructors responsible for clearing trees and debris, as well as three new or elevated heavy equipment operators, who use the loaders to remove and stockpile debris. This includes route clearance activities, as well as yard cleanup and demolition work that Team Rubicon performs for free in the wake of disasters.
“The Florida Disaster Training Camp is critical to our operations and was a success, largely because of the support provided by CASE and CASE Power & Equipment of Florida,” says Patrick Wright, heavy equipment associate at Team Rubicon. “These camps give our volunteers the time and training needed in a safe, non-disaster environment that ensures our teams are familiar with the tools, communications and processes we use in disaster response operations.”
CASE and Team Rubicon have a long history of working together in Florida, including an extensive deployment to Mexico Beach, Florida in the wake of Hurricane Michael in 2018. Most recently, Team Rubicon heavy equipment teams have responded to the tornados that ravaged Kentucky in December 2021, wildfire cleanup in California, and ongoing rebuild around Hurricane Harvey in Texas.
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