News Channel 8 brings you a homecoming in Hillsborough County. 75 members of a task force sent to the Florida Panhandle following Hurricane Michael returned home on Saturday. 

The group arrived at the Hillsborough County Fire Rescue headquarters on East Columbus Drive around 2 o’clock in the afternoon. These people are members of Hillsborough County Fire Rescue, Tampa Fire Rescue, and St. Petersburg Fire Rescue. 

The majority of them got on the road on Wednesday, October 10th, only hours after the Category 4 storm slammed into the Florida Panhandle. They brought trucks, boats, helicopters, generators, medical supplies, K-9 units, and many other items with them. Their main mission was to search and to rescue. The group combed through the devastation for about eleven days working from 5:30 in the morning to 11 o’clock at night. They slept in tents. We are told they did find bodies. 

Captain Andy Capeletti tells us he is proud of his team and they did their best to help the people who needed it. “The most important thing for me was to keep my guys safe when they were doing their job and, second, to do the job assigned by the state of Florida to help the people affected by the storm.”