Redlands Fire Chief Heads to Isaac as a FEMA Urban Search & Rescue Liaison

Redlands Fire Chief Jeff Frazier was called Tuesday to Texas to help authorities deal with Hurricane Isaac and its aftermath as it approached southeastern Louisiana.

Frazier was deployed Tuesday morning to Denton, Texas, as a liaison officer for FEMA Task Force CA-TF6, a city spokesman said.

"I am in Denton TX and serving in a coordination roll," Frazier said in an email just before 5 p.m. Pacific. "Nothing flashy at this juncture."

Frazier made similar trips to help coordinate search-and-rescue efforts during the January 2010 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Haiti, and in New York City after 9/11, Redlands spokesman Carl Baker said.

Battalion Chief Scott MacDonald is acting fire chief in Frazier's absence.

As of 6 p.m. Central Time, the center of Hurricane Isaac was located about 15 miles south-southwest of the mouth of the Mississippi River, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Maximum sustained winds were near 80 miles per hour, with higher gusts, according to the Hurricane Center. Strengthening was possible before Isaac was expected to make landfall during the coming hours.

The center of the huge, slow-moving storm was expected to be south and west of New Orleans by 1 a.m. Central Time Wednesday, according to The Times-Picayune and nola.com.

Redlands is about 65 miles east of downtown Los Angeles in San Bernardino County, Calif.

Follow Redlands-Loma Linda Patch on Twitter and Facebook, and sign up for the free daily newsletter here.