104851948

..--- THE UNOFFICAL WEBSITE FOR THE SAINT BERNARD PARISH FIRE DEPARTMENT
--- the OFFICAL MYSPACE PAGE FOR THE ST. BERNARD PARISH FIRE DEPARTMENT
AUGUST 29, 2006 marked the First Anniversary of hurricane Katrina and the devistation of our community and our fire department. The entire parish was impacted with water damage along with massive wind damage due to levee breaks.
On August 29, 2005, a category 5 Hurricane named Katrina slammed into St. Bernard Parish causing massive devastation. First came the 180 MPH winds and tornadoes which ripped apart homes and businesses, then came the 30' tidal surge which filled the Parish with up to 20' of water and completed the devastation. One hundred percent of the Parish received water, and every citizen was affected one way or another.
So many stories are yet to be told about the horror, tragedy, courage, and heroism that words can't come close to describing the reality of it all. St. Bernard Parish and all of its citizens are forever changed because of a storm called Katrina.
30' storm surge overflowing St. Bernard levees on the MRGO
Station 6 at Cypress Gardens
Central Fire Station flooded
Squad 2 now housed in Enigne 7's quarters
Hurricane Katrina was the worst natural disaster to hit St. Bernard Parish, and the United States ever. Our firefighters, along with our citizens, are struggling to rebuild our Parish and our lives. The firefighters of St. Bernard could not have gotten through this without the overwhelming support of all of the groups, task forces, individuals, and firefighters, who have come from all over the world, to assist us in saving lives, protecting what property we do have left, and rebuilding our fire department and community. We would like to personally thank everyone for their assistance in our time of need.
All 10 engine houses were destroyed by the storm along with 12 of 14 trucks. Two rescue squads (Squad 1 & Squad 2)were saved along with two pumpers (Engine 5 & Engine 6) by taking them out of the parish. They were brought to Holden, Louisiana and were saved from bing perished during the storm. Also lost were Deputy Chief's unit and three District Chief units in about 18 feet of water outside the Parish's Government Building. The only fire rescue boat the department had perished outside the complex as well.
The storm was a very horrific experience, it brought an training experience nightmare with a sense of urgency in a hurry. The time span which to Incident Command was needed was insued in a split second and was handled very well. More to follow:
I made my layout at killerkiwi.net
The Leary Mission
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZeqtlEoSgs