Primary Disaster Field Office (DFO), Lufkin, Texas

Abstract

On February 1, 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia broke apart during atmospheric re-entry on mission STS-107; the complexity of such an event cannot be underestimated. The Lufkin Disaster Field Office (DFO) served as the primary DFO for all operations, including staging assets and deploying field teams for search, recovery and security. There were many organizations that had operational experience with disaster recovery. Offers to help came from many groups including the White House Liaison Office, the Department of Defense (DOD), branches of local, state and federal government, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), state police, fire departments, the Texas Forestry Service, the Texas Army National Guard, medical groups, various rescue forces, contractor companies, the Salvation Army, local businesses, and citizens of our country and especially East Texas. The challenge was to know how much help to accept and how to efficiently incorporate their valuable assistance into a comprehensive and cohesive operational plan. There were more than 2,000 people involved with search and recovery.