Southwest Illinois firefighters head to Louisiana to aid in Hurricane Ida relief efforts
Sixteen years and one day after volunteering for Katrina relief, firefighters from the metro-east are once again answering the call to assist Louisiana residents in the aftermath of hurricane Ida.
O’Fallon, East Side Fire Protection District, Lebanon, Belleville, Smithton, Highland and Freeburg firefighters and equipment left Tuesday morning to join other Illinois firefighters for a 14-day deployment.
Their mission will be to give Louisiana resident firefighters relief and time off to take care of personal business.
“The parish that we’re going to go to, these firefighters were at the tip of the storm as it came through, complete devastation, “ said O’Fallon Fire Chief Brad White. “The local area expects no power until the 20th of September. So they are in blackout conditions 24 hours a day.
“The volunteers, the career guys that are on the departments in that area and throughout the state, they’re still on task to take care of the normal calls. But, their homes and their lives were disrupted through the storm as well,” White said. “So this is an opportunity where firefighters from around the country are able to go down there and take over that responsibility ... so that they can focus on their families and assess their own situations and allow us to take care of their emergency responses that they would have to otherwise take care of themselves.”
The metro-east group is part of a 15-engine, four fire-chief contingent. A total of 14 local fighters are part of the group.
They loaded personal gear and fire equipment into every available space before departing from O’Fallon for Louisiana on Tuesday. Besides the basic firefighter turnout gear and self-contained breathing apparatus, a trailer was packed with duffle bags loaded with personal items, water and enough food and MREs to sustain the firefighters for 72 hours.
The metro-east firefighters are volunteering for the relief effort.
“These guys are giving up their full-time jobs, taking a vacation from family and friends to go and help folks out of state,” White said.
Hurricane Ida struck Louisiana on Sunday, Aug. 29, as a Category 4 storm, killing at least 13 people and leaving thousands without power. Continuing into the eastern U.S., the storm spawned tornadoes, record rainfall and flooding, killed at least 50 people in six Eastern states.
Deputy Chief Bob Lindauer of the Smithton Fire Department is making his second trip in 16 years to help in Louisiana.
Lindauer said metro-east firefighters didn’t have a lot of down time volunteering in the aftermath of Katrina and expects it to be the same this time.
“When we went down for Katrina, I think we ran like 20 some structure fires and multiple other calls while we were down there,” he said.
The local firefighters were happy to get the help from their metro-east colleagues.
“They were just excited to have us come down to help assist in any way we could,” Lindauer said. “I just think it’s awesome that we’re able to go and support someplace that is that far away. I think that’s great that we can go down and help them out in their time of need.”