September 7, 2005

Firefighters provide hurricane assistance

       Three members of the White River Township Fire Department have deployed to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina and the recovery effort there.  Full-time employees Tony Slusher and Jory Cox along with part-time employee Steve Coover (also a full-time Bloomington firefighter) have all been sent to Atlanta, Georgia for an initial orientation and training class as well as to receive any necessary inoculations.  From there, they will be sent to a yet-undisclosed location to aid refugees from the storm by providing information on FEMA's response efforts.  All three are part of the 2,000 nationwide firefighter delegation sponsored by FEMA to gather personal information and register individuals for for aid by making sure they know when, where, and how to get Federal assistance.  Tony, Jory, and Steve will join Bloomington firefighters Brandon Hudson, Rob Sears, and Rob Stumpf as representatives from the Indiana fire service.  Steve, Brandon, Rob, and Rob left on Saturday and Tony and Jory left earlier today.  All six are expected to be deployed for a minimum of thirty days.

         A daily Blog web site has been set up to track the progress of each of the Indiana firefighters as they report back when they can.  Because they will all be working 12 hour days, 7 days a week for the entire period, information may be limited.  The web site can be accessed by clicking HERE or selecting the link that has been set up on the main page of the fire department's web site.  Also, see related stories HERE and HERE.

           
(Click on a thumbnail to enlarge photo)
 

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