FORT WORTH (1080 KRLD) - Emergency response personnel from all over the country are headed to New Orleans to help in the recovery effort from Hurricane Ida, and that includes a team from the Fort Worth Fire Department.
"About 25 members of the Fort Worth Fire Department have been either employed or activated to assist with the response to the hurricane," says fire department spokesman Mike Drivdahl.
Personnel who are part of Texas A&M Task Force 1 were the first ones to head to New Orleans.
"Several of them have quite a bit of experience in chainsaw work mainly through our wildland team," says Drivdahl, "so they'll be able to go down and help with debris removal, being able to get emergency personnel into some of these areas that have been struck pretty hard by what's going on down there."
In addition, about six members of the boat rescue squad are on standby in case they're needed for water rescues.
Drivdahl says all of them prepare extensively for operations like this.
"They do quite a bit of training throughout the year," Drivdahl says, "not only with the Fort Worth Fire Department but with the task force and quite a bit of training on their own."
Exactly how long the firefighters will be in New Orleans is unclear at this time.
"Typically, we prepare to deploy for about 14 days, and that can be extended by a day or two (or) it can be cut short by several days," says Drivdahl." It really just depends what the need is."
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