Florida Senate - 2022                             (NP)    SR 570
       
       
        
       By Senator Garcia
       
       
       
       
       
       37-00721-22                                            2022570__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution expressing the gratitude of the Florida
    3         Senate to the valiant men and women of the urban
    4         search and rescue teams who worked tirelessly in the
    5         search for and recovery of victims of the Champlain
    6         Towers Condominium collapse.
    7  
    8         WHEREAS, built in 1981, the Champlain Towers Condominium in
    9  Surfside consisted of three 12-story buildings overlooking the
   10  Atlantic Ocean, with a total of 345 units, and
   11         WHEREAS, at approximately 1:30 a.m. on June 24, 2021,
   12  Champlain Towers South partially collapsed, resulting in mass
   13  casualties, and
   14         WHEREAS, the Champlain Towers Condominium collapse was one
   15  of the worst disasters in the history of this state and involved
   16  the third-largest building failure in the history of this
   17  nation, and
   18         WHEREAS, more than 800 members from state and federal task
   19  forces worked grueling 12-hour shifts at the site, with nearly
   20  400 of those urban search and rescue team members from this
   21  state, and
   22         WHEREAS, these first responders worked for 29 days in the
   23  worst conditions imaginable, including falling debris, fires,
   24  rain, and tropical-storm-force winds, and
   25         WHEREAS, team members combed through more than 14,230 tons
   26  of debris at the Champlain Towers Condominium site in the search
   27  for survivors and, as the days passed, for the remains of those
   28  who died in the collapse, and
   29         WHEREAS, four people were rescued from the rubble of the
   30  partially collapsed condominium, one of whom later died, with 11
   31  others injured, and about 35 people were rescued the same day
   32  from the uncollapsed portion of the building, which was
   33  demolished 10 days later, and
   34         WHEREAS, 98 people died in the Champlain Towers Condominium
   35  collapse, and it is through the heroic efforts of the urban
   36  search and rescue team members that their families were able to
   37  recover their remains and lay them to rest, NOW, THEREFORE,
   38  
   39  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   40  
   41         That the gratitude of the Florida Senate is expressed to
   42  the valiant men and women of the urban search and rescue teams
   43  who worked tirelessly in the search for and recovery of victims
   44  of the Champlain Towers Condominium collapse.
   45         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the heroic efforts of the
   46  following search and rescue teams are recognized: Miami-Dade
   47  Fire Rescue, City of Miami Fire Department, Hillsborough County
   48  Fire Rescue, Central Florida Urban Search and Rescue,
   49  Jacksonville Fire Rescue Department, Southwest Florida Urban
   50  Search and Rescue, Tallahassee Fire Department, Marion County
   51  Fire Rescue, Virginia Beach (Virginia) Fire Department, Dayton
   52  (Ohio) Fire Department, Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) Fire
   53  Department, City of Indianapolis (Indiana) Department of Public
   54  Safety, and New Jersey State Police.
   55         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution, with
   56  the Seal of the Senate affixed, be presented to each of the
   57  named teams as a tangible token of the sentiments of the Florida
   58  Senate.