ATF leading federal emergency efforts in areas impacted by Irma

By Christen Smith

A truck overturned in flood waters as Hurricane Irma passed through Miami Sunday. (Photo: Thomson Reuters)
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said this week its coordinating a multi-agency emergency response to areas impacted by Hurricane Irma.
ATF spokesman Joshua Jackson told Guns.com Tuesday the agency leads ESF-13, an emergency response plan of action implemented by the Department of Justice, and has deployed approximately 500 agents to Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Florida, with another 500 on stand-by as needed.
“The personnel are a makeup of several different federal agencies (ATF, FBI, DEA, USMS, and others) that are agents, subject matter experts, and intelligence specialists,” he said. “ATF’s primary mission in the affected areas is public safety, providing security for FEMA shelters, and supporting urban search and rescues units. ATF and its partners will remain in the affected areas for the interim until things have stabilized.”
Hurricane Irma, one of the strongest storms ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean, whipped through the Caribbean last week before making two landfalls in the United States over the weekend — once in the lower Florida Keys and again on Marco Island, 18 miles south of Naples. The massive storm packed 130 mile per hour winds, 10 foot

Source: Guns.com