Ken Pagurek, a longtime Philadelphia firefighter who served as chief of FEMA’s search and rescue branch for the past year, was well-versed in major disaster response.

The head of FEMA’s Urban Search and Rescue branch, which runs a network of teams stationed across the country that can swiftly respond to natural disasters, resigned on Monday.

Ken Pagurek, the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Urban Search and Rescue chief, has resigned amid criticism over the agency's delayed response to Texas flooding and efforts by the federal government to dismantle the organization.