Montville firefighters help hurricane-hit La. department
Relief supplies will go to New Iberia crews coping with Laura cleanup
Montville — The town’s four independent volunteer fire companies are seeking donations to help Louisiana’s New Iberia Fire Department with disaster relief efforts.
After Hurricane Laura, a Montville fire captain brought the idea to the four chiefs, all of whom ended up collaborating on the initiative.
People are encouraged to bring donations to Montville Fire Co. 1 at 77 Route 163, Uncasville; Mohegan Fire Company, 2029 Norwich-New London Turnpike, Uncasville; Chesterfield Fire Company, 1606 Hartford-New London Turnpike, Oakdale, or the Oakdale Fire Department, 444 Chapel Hill Road, Oakdale. In particular, the companies are asking for donations of bottled water (preferably cases or pallets), recovery cleanup supplies (contractor trash bags, scouring gloves, cleaning solution and tarps), bug spray and bar oil for chainsaws.
They are taking donations through Wednesday.
Chesterfield Public Information Officer Steven Frischling said, at first, the fire companies were looking at a variety of religious and social groups to assist, but when they realized the fire department needed help, it was an easy call because “they speak the same language.”
“The generous support from those who have already donated is very much appreciated, however in a time of disaster, even with the support we have already received in this mission of relief aid, when thousands of people are without water, expected to have no power for weeks, and their homes have been viciously battered by a (Category) 4 hurricane, there is more to be done, and more required to fill at least one trailer, if not more, to help those in need,” Frischling wrote in a prior news release.
Shipman’s Fire Equipment in Waterford agreed to cover transport expenses. Blais Transportation LLC in Salem is providing two drivers. The plan is to load all the donations on pallets, put the materials in the back of a trailer and drive the approximately 1,500 miles to New Iberia.
Frischling explained the need for bar chain oil.
“When I called the New Iberia Fire Department and called the chief’s secretary because she knew absolutely everything — she’s amazing to work with — (at the) top of her list was bar chain oil for chainsaws because they simply can’t get any,” Frischling said. “Without bar chain oil, you don’t have search and rescue operations.”
Frischling praised the four chiefs’ willingness to serve the community, even if that community is 1,500 miles away.
He added that if people want to make a monetary donation, they have to send an email to pio@chesterfieldfirecompany.org, since you can’t just drop such a donation off — it needs to be written out to a specific organization and handed to Frischling. Rather than going by truck, monetary donations would be sent via signature-required mail.
“Each of Montville’s four independent Volunteer Fire Companies will gladly accept a single package of scouring gloves, or a trailer loaded with supplies,” Frischling wrote in the news release. “Whether it is one item or a bulk donation, it is more than we had yesterday to donate to those working on the front lines following the devastation of Hurricane Laura.”
Some in Louisiana are concerned the storm, which “essentially wrecked a metropolitan area of nearly a quarter of a million people before barreling north and dealing damage all the way to the Arkansas border,” according to The Times Picayune / New Orleans Advocate, will not receive proper national attention.