Okay....last night I heard BOR talking to a rescuer about a woman and her mother (?) trapped somewhere. Did not get his name and came in during the end. From the question and answer I heard it seemed as if this rescuer was part of a volunteer group not connected to the official effort.
It may very well be there are groups which have formed (ex-military, etc) which have formed with one goal in mind.
Forget the bullshit (sorry!) & just go in and get them as situations are made known to them.
Therefore, what you have described seems credible.
I believe it was Col. Cowen's (sp?)group.