WHEN DUTY CALLS

Firefighters reflect on exhausting, rewarding hurricane relief trip

Posted 9/13/17

By JACOB MARROCCO There was no down time in Houston for Cranston firefighters Scott Robinson and Brendan Colman. The two ventured to the city ravaged by Hurricane Harvey to lend peer support to other firefighters and their families, and they were put to

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

E-mail
Password
Log in

WHEN DUTY CALLS

Firefighters reflect on exhausting, rewarding hurricane relief trip

Posted

There was no down time in Houston for Cranston firefighters Scott Robinson and Brendan Colman.

The two ventured to the city ravaged by Hurricane Harvey to lend peer support to other firefighters and their families, and they were put to work soon after the plane landed.

Robinson said they met up with a Houston firefighter whom he had met previously, and they drove out to meet a fellow officer who suffers from cancer.

“We got there and his house was demolished,” Robinson said. “Everything was just terrible. All the streets were that way. We went in and the guy was sitting in a lawn chair in the middle of a living room that just smelled of mildew and mold.”

It was a difficult way to begin the trip, but that was what Robinson and Colman were brought in to do. They were there for about 90 minutes before heading to command center for their nightly briefing.

After that, it was work day after day of 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., meeting with firefighters whose homes were leveled and families affected by Harvey’s devastation.

“We were down in Houston trying to set people up with everything from Hepatitis A vaccines to tetanus vaccines, financial health, mental health and they were able to get demo[lition] crews in people’s houses. The International [Association of Fire Fighters] did a real lot for those guys. A lot were in flood waters up to 20 hours.”

Robinson and Colman, who spoke with the Herald Tuesday morning from their post on Cranston Street, wore numerous hats for the week they were in Houston. They did needs assessments, speaking to firefighters about what supplies they may need, like generators if they were out of power or food lost to flooding.

They also set up demolition crews, composed of volunteer union firefighters from around the country, who did more than 150 jobs in about a week and a half. Robinson said his peer support group alone met with about 70-100 people per day.

There were a couple of cases in particular that stuck with the pair. Robinson said he had spoken to a firefighter distraught over the fact he could not fit someone stranded on a roof into his rescue boat.

“One of the guys had a real tough time [with that],” he said. “When we left there were still bodies in cars, bodies in houses that they weren’t able to get to because they had to wait for waters to recede to do the recoveries. That affects a lot of guys down there. I tell everybody the ‘F’ word in fire service is failure. When a guy feels like he didn’t do his job and failed, it affects us.”

Colman recalled a firefighter whose 6-year-old son experienced a tragic loss. His friend of the same age died of an asthma attack during the flooding. Colman said it was the “saddest story we ran into.

“People couldn’t get to him and he passed,” Colman said. “So they were able to get a counselor that works with kids to talk to that child.”

As peer support operations in Texas and Louisiana wrapped up, some crews went east to prepare for the aftermath of Hurricane Irma in Florida. Robinson and Colman were supposed to be joined by four other officers this past Sunday, but they are now on a waitlist as the IAFF determines the appropriate response to Irma.

Captain Jim Warren, retired Deputy Chief Mike Procopio, Chaplain Scott Brown and North Providence’s Joe Cassalino were slated to head down Sunday. Three new names on reserve are West Warwick’s Billy Leahy, Woonsocket’s Scott Hampson and Cranston’s Matt Palini. Those seven would be ready to go if called down to Florida.

“It really reinforces that no one takes care of us better than us,” Robinson said. “If you’re down, we’re going to be there to pick you up.”

As for any trips out west to support those affected by forest fires, Robinson said he does not know of any initiatives yet.

“I don’t know what the other fronts are that the International is working on,” Robinson said. “If they’re taking care of members in Houston, they’re taking care of members everywhere. I’m not privy to what operations they’re doing but I’m sure we’ll get a report in the next letter.”

There’s no rest for the Cranston firefighters, though. Even though there wasn’t heavy labor involved in their workdays, Robinson said they oftentimes found themselves exhausted at the end of the day.

“It’s not just running into burning buildings and getting injured,” Robinson said. “It’s the aftereffect of what we see and how it affects us on a daily basis. All those guys that were working there have families that are at home gutting their own houses and saving their pictures and these guys are trying to help other families.”

Robinson and Colman barely have time to rest now that they’re back home. They even had to interrupt the interview to go on a brief call.

It’s all in a day’s work.

“It was really good,” Robinson said. “It made me feel really good about what we do.”

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here