Two Tupelo Firefighters Helping Hurricane Laura Victims In Louisiana

TUPELO, MISS. (WCBI) – Two Tupelo firefighters are helping victims of Hurricane Laura in Louisiana as part of efforts by the “Mississippi Urban Search And Rescue Task Force.”

The firefighters from Tupelo are part of a team working in the southwestern portion of Cameron Parish, which was hit hard when Hurricane Laura came ashore last week.

Teams are conducting assessments of infrastructure, wellness checks of citizens and secondary searches.

The Task Force allows trained firefighters from cities across the state to deploy to areas struck by natural disasters, while not taking manpower from departments who are part of the task force.

“This has been a lot of years in the making, to get these teams up and get them fine tuned to where we get the most out of what we have, and this way, I send two guys, not only does it leave members to respond to other parts of the state, it doesn’t tax me here as a local fire department and put us in a bind to where we have to, cut down on our services here,” said Tupelo Fire Chief Thomas Walker.

Chief Walker doesn’t know when his two firefighters will be cleared to return to Tupelo, but he says it could be sometime this week.