Mississippi firefighters come to the aid of those affected by Hurricane Ida in Louisiana

VICKSBURG, Miss. (WLBT) - It’s been nearly three weeks since Hurricane Ida moved ashore, leaving a path of destruction in Louisiana. Vicksburg and Warren County firefighters are now lending a helping hand to their neighbors in this time of need.

Vicksburg’s fire chief beamed with pride while thanking some of the team members who sacrificed their time to help citizens and the firefighters impacted by Ida.

“It is the firefighter brotherhood is number one, number two, neighbors helping neighbors. It’s Mississippi helping Louisiana,” said Vicksburg Fire Chief Craig Danczyk.

For seven days, firefighters from Warren County and Vicksburg spent time in Harvey, Louisiana, working around the clock providing critical services.

A challenging time these men say they were ready and willing to sign up for especially after seeing and hearing about the devastation in the area.

“In our first night there, less than 12 hours there, we responded to a structure fire,” said Lt. Joshua Davies.

“No one could get any gas, so the emotions and attitudes were running real high. We saw police run all day long, all day long. The thing about the firemen, a lot of fire departments are really short in staff,” said investigator Nathaniel Williams.

“They would have ice and water on pallets, then we would go and pick up and just drive around the community passing out ice and water. There was a lot of people that were helping other people out.  When went we were in one complex, one gentleman chased us through the whole complex to get water and ice for people who couldn’t leave their apartment, so that was good to see,” said Davies.

Volunteering to help those in need is nothing new to Captain Jimmy Cogan. He did the same thing when Katrina hit Louisiana 16 years ago.

“It’s like here, we never knew what call we were about to go to and we relieved those guys so they can go check on their homes and see if they had a home. We did station duties, we cut grass, we wash vehicles, whatever came up,” said Vicksburg Fire Captain Jimmy Cogan.

Although these men are back home, the help will continue.

These firefighters say another crew of first responders recently relieved their team and will carry on their mission of assisting Hurricane Ida survivors and fellow firemen on their long road to recovery.

“It is a good thing that Vicksburg and Warren County sent some more of our peers down there to help out,” said Williams.

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