HANCOCK COUNTY — Officials with Buck Creek Township Fire Department (BCTFD) have teamed up with Interstate Towing to collect relief items for victims of Hurricane Helene.
Officials with BCTFD have a semi-trailer at Fire Station 471, 5809 W. Airport Blvd., Greenfield, where people may donate items. They are collecting items 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day until Oct. 21. The trailer is located in the back parking lot of the firehouse.
The most requested items include baby formula and diapers, new hygiene items, batteries, flashlights, medical supplies and first aid items, paper goods, cleaning supplies and trash bags, ready-to-eat and canned meals along with packaged snacks.
Firefighter Matt Bartlett has generously offered several trailers from Interstate Delaware and South to assist in hurricane relief efforts.
“Several regions in the eastern and southeastern United States have been severely affected by recent hurricanes,” Bartlett said. “While major news outlets have covered the devastation extensively, nothing compares to seeing the damage firsthand. Recently, we had the opportunity to send several of our drivers to the hardest-hit areas in North Carolina. They witnessed the immense challenges of rebuilding in communities where nearly everything has been lost. Many residents are not only without homes and vehicles but also lack access to basic necessities.”
Jess Elliott is the public information officer with BCTFD and said they are reaching out to all first responders in the area to see if any fire departments might have equipment and supplies they are no longer using that could be helpful during the recovery process.
Also earlier this week, area police and fire departments put up donation information on something called Operation Fill A Plane, which was held Thursday Oct. 3 at the Indianapolis Regional Airport, Hangar 507-13. People were able to got to come to the event, check out planes, hear some music and make donations for those affected by Hurricane Helene.
Officials with BCTFD noted Operation Fill the Plane was a huge success and thanked everyone for a great job.
“We are grateful to everyone who donated and contributed to the event’s success,” officials said.
In the meantime, first responders from Indiana Task Force 1 have spent the last 10 days helping victims of Hurricane Helene in Florida and North Carolina working up to 15 to 20 hours a day trying to find victims and doing rescue.
Sugar Creek Township Fire Department Chief Brandon Kleine, Deputy Chief Robin Nicoson II, Lt. Adam Schock, and Lt. Jeff Keithley have all traveled with Indiana USAR Task Force #1.
Officials say the storm dumped an estimated 35 inches of rain in parts of remote western North Carolina.
Task Force 1 Battalion Chief Jay Settergren, a Hancock County resident, told WISH-TV on Thursday from Asheville, North Carolina, that the heavy rain touched off flash floods that obliterated homes and businesses.
“To tell you there’s piles of mud, it’s unbelievable,” Settergren said. “They’re as big as a pickup truck. It looks like snow if you can equate it to that, a snowstorm in the Midwest.”
Task Force 1 brought along trained dogs to help search through damaged homes to see if anyone is still inside.
“If we do get a scent, we have to work into the house,” Settergren said. “We used a lot of technical rescue skills. We have to cut into the homes. We have to breach to get into that area to confirm whether there are human remains are not.”
Many people living in the remote areas are several miles from the nearest town and are cut off from communication with the rest of the world. Access into some of these areas is blocked because the storm washed out roads.
