MANATEE COUNTY – After Hurricane Milton passed by the area on Oct. 9, some of the first people stepping out to assess damage and see what could be done to help were the crews from West Manatee Fire Rescue.
During the storm, Chief Ben Rigney said district staff operated their own version of an emergency operations center, answering more than 400 calls.
Once weather conditions deteriorated to the point that first responders couldn’t respond to emergency calls, staff said they had to triage calls, trying to talk people through things like evacuating. After the storm passed, a team of two people began calling everyone back who had called the district during the storm to make sure they were safe and see if they still needed emergency attention now that crews were able to resume service.
During Hurricane Helene, which passed just days prior to Hurricane Milton, Rigney and Deputy Chief Jay Johnson worked in the Manatee County Emergency Operations Center.
As water flooded homes during Hurricane Helene, WMFR responded to 252 calls, Rigney said. The primary issues as a result of that storm, he said, were fires caused by water getting into electrical outlets and large batteries, such as those on golf carts. Even though some people put batteries in higher places, such as on top of refrigerators, Rigney said they still became inundated with salt water when the refrigerators toppled from the storm surge, causing fires to spark.
Johnson said during Hurricane Helene, the district was able to evacuate 120 people from Cortez using boats and high water vehicles.
Though WMFR staff elected to stay for Hurricane Helene in each of the district’s three stations, Rigney said they evacuated Stations 2 and 3 in Cortez and Holmes Beach, respectively. Though each station received some roof damage from Milton, he said no firefighters or first responders were injured and the district didn’t lose any equipment except for a few tires.
Rigney thanked not just the district’s staff but also the community for their response and resilience during and after both hurricanes.
