MONTGOMERY, Pa. — Firefighters from the Clinton Township Volunteer Fire Company in Lycoming County returned late Sunday night from their trip to Kentucky. They donated and drove more than $2 million worth of equipment, including a fire truck, to fire departments who lost everything during the tornados that ravaged the state.
"We rolled into what they are using now as a main station which is an old gas station that their equipment doesn't even fit in. It is a service station with gas pumps that have been removed," said Clinton Township firefighter Mat Post.
The firefighters from central Pennsylvania compared the destruction in Kentucky to that of a war zone.
"It reminded us of any pictures that I have seen of Europe, war-torn Europe, where the brick buildings and cobble buildings were just in piles," said Chief Todd Winder of the Clinton Township Volunteer Fire Company.
"Reduced block buildings to dust. We saw a camper on top of a house, a 30-foot travel trailer that got picked up and spun around, and somebody's got that in their bedroom now," said Post.
Post says the firefighters down south kept saying one phrase in particular.
"The guys down there kept saying it, and you could see it on some of the houses. They spray-painted, 'We'll be back,' and just that phrase right there means they are not giving up."
"To all of the departments from the four counties up here that donated, those guys down there won't forget you. I guarantee they won't forget us up here," said Chief Winder.
The equipment donated to the Mayfield Graves Volunteer Fire Company in Kentucky has already been put into use.
"We weren't even two hours out from leaving those guys, and they had a structure fire. The pictures we saw showed heavy flames," said Post.
Firefighters here at the Clinton Township Volunteer Fire Company are now asking the community to come out and support them. On January 22, the fire company will be hosting a community fundraising meal from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the station.
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