Urban Search and Rescue Virginia Task Force 1 (VA-TF1; internationally USA-01) is an international heavy urban search and rescue (USAR) team based in Fairfax County, Virginia, USA. The task force is organized as a FEMA Urban Search and Rescue Task Force sponsored by the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department. It provides rapidly deployable resources to local, national, and international rescue efforts.
Accredited as an International Heavy USAR team by the United Nations, VA-TF1 is one of two USAR teams funded, equipped, and trained to deploy globally under the auspices of the U.S. Department of State, operating abroad under the name USA-01. Together with CA-TF2 / USA-02 of the Los Angeles Fire Department, they constitute the United States' most elite globally deployable heavy USAR resources.
Domestically, VA-TF1 supports national disaster response efforts coordinated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). As a part of the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department, the task force maintains constant operational readiness as a local resource for residents of Fairfax County and surrounding jurisdictions in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. The size of the task force's deployed element varies depending on deployment mission scope.
Established in 1986 as a domestic and international disaster response resource sponsored by the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department, Virginia Task Force 1 is rostered by approximately 200 specially trained career and volunteer fire and rescue personnel, with expertise in the rescue of victims from collapsed structures, following natural disasters or terrorist attacks. The team is composed of emergency managers and planners, physicians and paramedics, and specialists in the fields of structural engineering, heavy rigging, collapse rescue, logistics, hazardous materials, communications, canine and technical search.
The task force is headquartered in the Chantilly area of Fairfax County.
Deployments As of June 2026, VA-TF1 has taken part in the following deployments: