In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene – the second deadliest storm to hit the U.S. mainland this century – a Naperville firefighter is doing his part to help victims in North Carolina.
Gros involved with Helene water rescue team
Less than 48 hours after the hurricane struck the Big Bend area of the Florida Gulf Coast as a Category 4 storm on Sept. 26, Naperville Fire Department Lieutenant Chuck Gros was boots on the ground near Asheville, North Carolina with Illinois Task Force 1 (IL-TF1).
The specialized water rescue team has been traversing the flooded areas of the region to search for and rescue storm victims.
IL-TF1 was organized by the Wheeling-based Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS). It includes firefighters from 17 different departments around Illinois.
“Chuck is on a team that is ready to be deployed at any time,” said Naperville Fire Chief Mark Puknaitis. “We have a number of people on the department, whether it’s a technical rescue, water rescue, hazardous materials that are made up of teams that can be deployed, and they can be deployed anywhere in the country if FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) and a national effort asks for them.”
IL-TF1 came to the area after the North Carolina Department of Public Safety sent out a request for water rescue teams from around the country.
Gros’ experience as a dive master will help save lives
Back in Naperville, Gros – a 24-year veteran of the fire department – serves as water rescue coordinator, also known as dive master. Puknaitis said Gros’ skillset made him the fire department’s first choice for the mission in North Carolina.
“Chuck volunteered to go, just like he has in many other events in the past,” said Puknaitis. “We’re very fortunate to have a man like Lieutenant Gros on the job who not only has the training ability, but the initiative to take this on a moment’s notice.”
The Asheville area death toll rose to 61 people Wednesday afternoon, according to the Buncombe County sheriff. The Hurricane Helene total death toll stands at least 200 people, according to AP News.
“We’ve never really seen something of this magnitude ever before, especially well off the coast of Florida and well off of the Gulf (of Mexico),” said Puknaitis. “Many people down there are actually categorizing this as of biblical proportion. So something that just is an epic event that we knew it was going to cause of a lot of damage.”
Gros and the rest of IL-TF1 will be stationed in North Carolina until the end of next week.
“He is very much a people-person, he cares for the people in this community,” said Puknaitis. “He’s a special guy and we’re glad that he’s able to save lives.”
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