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Houston-area volunteer firefighters go to Florida
Help from the Houston area is heading to Florida as three local volunteer firefighters are going the extra mile. FOX 26's Leslie DelasBour spoke to the firefighters in Mission Bend.
HOUSTON - Gilberto Ortega is a volunteer firefighter with the Community Volunteer Fire Department that services parts of Fort Bend and Harris Counties.
As a volunteer firefighter, taking time to help others in and out of the station is a no-brainer. So when he saw the devastation after Hurricane Milton in Florida, he knew had to help.
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"Not only as a firefighter, but as a human being. I couldn’t just stand back and see this destruction go on," said Gilberto Ortega. "Just decided to kind of get my family and friends on Facebook and said, 'hey, can anyone offer help, and then it turned into this."
Now, he is asking for the community’s help.
Ortega and two other volunteer firefighters are preparing to head to Florida Sunday morning with food, water, and tools in a trailer donated to them.
"Water right, one of the biggest necessities is water, shelter, and food," Ortega said. "So we are taking chainsaws so that we are able to get through. Some fuel for the chainsaws, so our typical firefighters tools: our axes, shovels, if we need to be able to get out or make way for us to make it down to Florida."
However, once the Community Volunteer Fire Department heard about his idea, they were on board.
"We are also opening up all of our fire stations as drop points, so anybody in the community that has items that they want to donate, they can drop them off now until 10 p.m. Saturday," said Captain Samantha Smith, Public Information Officer.
Ortega says he and his fellow firefighters are just trying to do the right thing and any donation helps.
"Having lived through and experienced the aftermath I cannot imagine. So I had to go there and I had to go there now," Ortega said. "So if I can have some time to collect the donations for me to be able to take, then I will wait a few days before I head on out."
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If you would like to bring in a donation such as water, blankets and non-perishable items, please go to their website and drop off your donations at one of the three fire stations.
If you would like to make a monetary donation, click here.