Bay Area Harvey Heroes deployed to Florida for Hurricane Irma

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- As people evacuate Florida anticipating Hurricane Irma, help from the Bay Area is already on its way.[br /][br /][b]RELATED: [url HREF="http://abc7news.com/pets-animals/oakland-as-star-works-to-help-rescue-animals-ahead-of-hurricane/2385116/" TARGET="" REL=""]Oakland A's star works to help rescue animals ahead of Hurricane Irma[/url][/b][br /][Ads /][br /]The Urban Search and Rescue Task Force barely made it out of Texas helping with Harvey damage when they got the call late Tuesday night.[br /]Around two dozen people are already on the road to Florida, and more than 50 will be flying out first thing Thursday morning.[br /][twitter ID="905655291940823040" /][br /]As Hurricane Irma marches toward the mainland, Bay Area crews race to meet her on the front line.[br /][br /]"We initially started heading toward home and things with Irma changed. We ended up turning around," said Oakland Fire Battalion Chief James Bowron. "So we made it to New Mexico and then we got a phone call late last night."[br /][br /]The four rescue boats and two zodiacs, normally parked in an Oakland warehouse never made it back. Equipment has already been shipped out.[br /][Ads /][br /][b]RELATED: [url HREF="http://abc7news.com/weather/powerful-hurricane-irma-bears-down-on-caribbean/2377707/[br /]" TARGET="" REL=""]Powerful Hurricane Irma bears down on Caribbean[/url][/b][br /][br /]"It's definitely uncommon to have that quick of a turnaround," said Oakland Fire Battalion Chief Robert Lipp.[br /][br /]The other task members that fly out Thursday morning will stage in Alabama until they receive mission orders, unphased by back to back deployments.[br /]"There's a sense of honor and pride in that we're motivated to be able to go out and hopefully be able to help some of these people," Lipp added.[br /][Ads /][br /]The Bay Area won't go uncovered as firefighters come from 18 agencies, plus there are several civilian members.[br /][br /]"One of the great things about having that many agencies is that the impact on any one agency is minimal," Lipp said.[br /][br /]PG&E is sending 100 people Thursday morning to help restore power in Florida.[br /][br /]The California Coast Guard's 129th Rescue Wing will also be deployed like they were during Harvey.[br /][br /][b][url HREF="http://abc7news.com/tag/hurricane-irma" TARGET="" REL=""]Click here[/url] for more stories, photos, and video on Hurricane Irma.[/b]