IRONDALE, Ala. ( WIAT ) — As Hurricane Milton made its way across Florida, Alabama first responders prepare to jump into action to help. The state of Florida is asking Alabama for both police officers and firefighters to provide aid.
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The Alabama Association of Fire Chiefs says this call for help came in Wednesday. Local fire departments spent Wednesday afternoon getting supplies together for a deployment down to Florida, so crews could leave Thursday morning. The firefighters must be able to self-sustain for the first 96 hours they’re on the ground.
“Our tools, our trucks, charging equipment, everything, we need to be able to do that ourselves until they can get some other avenues in there for us to be able to do those things,” Irondale Fire Chief Joshua McDaniel said.
The Alabama Association of Fire Chiefs says 44 firefighters from across the state will be deploying to help in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton. The deployment is expected to be two weeks long.