WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — Unprecedented devastation as two hurricanes have ripped their way through the same areas back-to-back . Relief efforts have been bolstered by fire departments across the country, including Kansas.
Kansas Task Force 1 arrived home from playing their part in Hurricane Helene’s aid. The crew included firefighters from Wichita, Olathe, Junction City, Manhattan, and others. They spent two weeks working long hours in the devastated areas.
Firefighters with Sedgwick County Fire District 1, Captain Luke Wiebe and Lieutenant Tyler Brenneman, spent one week in Florida and one week in North Carolina. They compared what they saw in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene to working on the response to the Andover tornado two years ago —this time, on a much larger scale.
“[I] wasn’t sure what to expect when we got there,” Wiebe said.
They arrived just before the hurricane made landfall. They braced for the storm and then immediately deployed. Their days consisted of surveying the damage and performing search-and-rescue by going door-to-door.