‘We’re Doing Everything That We Can’: Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Chief Gets Choked Up on CNN Talking About Condo Collapse Rescue Efforts

Miami-Dade fire rescue chief Andy Alvarez got emotional during a CNN interview Friday talking about the efforts underway to save people trapped in the rubble of the collapsed Surfside, Florida condo.

As of this posting, four people are dead and 159 others are still unaccounted for. Miami-Dade is receiving aid from FEMA.

Alvarez told Wolf Blitzer that they are doing everything in their power to find every person who is unaccounted for.

Blitzer asked what his message is to family members “so desperately anxious they’re waiting for information.”

“Have hope. There’s always hope,” Alvarez said.

He got choked up as he talked about the rescue efforts in Haiti he was involved in:

I was in Haiti and… eight days after we were there, we took a girl out of a collapse. You’ve got to have hope. We’re doing everything that we can to bring your family member out alive.

“Our job is to get people out safely. And, you know, it’s stressful, obviously, on the frontline workers, because they’re in the building. But it’s just as stressful when you’re in the command room making those tough decisions of putting these people in harm’s way to try to save those that are inside,” he continued, taking a brief pause.

Blitzer said “our thoughts are with you and the men and women” and added, “These are the hardest kinds of decisions that leaders like you have to make, because we know you are putting the men and women who work with you potentially in grave danger as well, as they search for life.”

You can watch above, via CNN.

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