‘Yes, we’re ready’: Suburban firefighters doing search and rescue in hurricane-ravaged North Carolina

Two dozen firefighters from Cook and DuPage counties are among the first responders doing searches and rescues and providing other assistance near Asheville, North Carolina, in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.

The local firefighters are part of two specialized water rescue teams managed by the Wheeling-based Mutual Aid Box Alarm System, a statewide firefighting response consortium that is lending helping hands — and equipment like boats and an all-terrain vehicle — to emergency response agencies in and around Buncombe County.

The area in the mountains of western North Carolina was especially hard hit by the tropical cyclone, which flooded homes, left roads impassable and knocked out power and cellphone service. At least 57 people have died in the Asheville area alone, out of a death toll that has risen to 159 across six states.

So far, the Illinois firefighters haven’t come across any fatalities or people with serious injuries, said Glenn Ericksen, who has been CEO of MABAS since retiring as Arlington Heights’ fire chief a decade ago.

They have helped evacuate or provide other assistance to hundreds of flood victims during search-and-rescue missions that started last Thursday, Ericksen said.

One group from Illinois loaded on National Guard high-water vehicles to assist the Skyland Fire and Rescue Department with area-wide searches and evacuations of flooded neighborhoods, buildings and vehicles.

As water began to recede by Monday, the other group made it into a secluded residential area located off a mountain road that had been blocked by trees and debris. MABAS officials said they were the first fire or search-and-rescue group to make contact with the neighborhood’s 300 or so residents since the storm began.

Firefighters went door to door for well-being checks and medical evaluations, while running their search and rescue operations from a small gazebo that served as a makeshift community center.

“They are making do with what they have there and what they’re able to find,” Ericksen said. “They’re very adaptive in trying to assist in any way possible.”

The 24 firefighters are from 17 fire departments, including Arlington Heights, Carol Stream, Chicago, Deerfield-Bannockburn, Des Plaines, Downers Grove, Hoffman Estates, Lisle-Woodridge, Morton Grove, Mount Prospect, Naperville, Orland, Palatine, Rolling Meadows, Skokie, Wheeling and Wilmette.

The deployment came by ways of an emergency management assistance compact in which the North Carolina Department of Public Safety issued a request for water rescue teams from other states. The Illinois Emergency Management Agency and Office of Homeland Security contacted MABAS, which stores two swiftwater rescue boats at its headquarters in Wheeling.

The initial activation was expected to last a week, but it’s likely that will be extended. One team is staying at a firehouse, and the other at a Baptist church.

“Right now because of the devastation, they may need to stay there a little bit longer,” Ericksen said. “Everybody to a man said, ‘Oh yes, we’re ready.’”

· Daily Herald wire services contributed to this report.