MEDIA NOTE: Click on the photo above to view video of the rescue and interviews.

When an earthquake, initially reported at 7.1 magnitude, shook Venezuela, followed by 7.5 magnitude aftershock less than a minute later, Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue didn’t hesitate to respond. It was June 24, and within 48 hours six BSFR first responders left South Florida for Venezuela to lend a helping hand as part of the South Florida Urban Search and Rescue Task Force.

The devastation was almost incomprehensible. For 11 days, the BSFR team worked alongside international rescue teams, sorting through debris, hoping for signs of life under the collapsed buildings. Then, on June 28, rescue teams could hear faint noises under a collapsed shopping center. BSFR personnel immediately got to work with the international teams, and they were able to locate Hernan Alberto Gil Flores alive.

Gil, a security guard who was working in his security booth when the earthquake struck the South American nation, was buried 29 feet underground. His booth protected him from total collapse and created a pocket of air that kept him alive. Gil had been trapped for about eight days before rescuers located him.

BSFR responders put their training into action and worked nonstop, alongside teams of rescuers, for more than 100 hours to extract Gil from the debris. This was no small feat. The physically demanding conditions tested their training and endurance.

BSFR responders had to crawl through a hole roughly 24-36 inches wide and rescuers worked steadily to remove some of the debris without causing further collapse. The rescue operation unfolded while simultaneously establishing communication with Gil and supplying him with water. Rescuers themselves were working under four stories of the collapsed structure during the rescue operation.

Their efforts were successful. On July 2, after roughly 183 hours trapped in the debris, rescuers freed Gil from the collapsed structure and brought him to safety. Gil is reportedly a father of two, who had told rescuers not to tell his wife he was found alive just yet, in case he didn’t make it. He did make it.

“You train for situations like this one for so long, and then you get to use those skills in a very complex situation. It was very rewarding to bring him out alive,” said BSFR Captain Kevin Meyers.

As rescuers brought Gil from the rubble, they were met with applause and joy by the public. One life saved. One success story, amid incomprehensible destruction. That is BSFR’s ethos.