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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 12, 2024
MEDIA CONTACT
Derek Wing, Communications Manager
dwing@redmond.gov, 425-556-5844
Redmond Firefighters Return from Hurricane Deployment
REDMOND, WA - Four Redmond firefighters returned from deployments to North Carolina and Florida in response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton. Battalion Chief Caleb Freeman, Fire Marshall Rich Gieseke, Driver/Engineer Coy Morris, and Firefighter-Paramedic Matt Nelson served in the roles of safety officer, logistics specialist, rescue specialist, and medical specialist respectively.
“The work of Caleb, Rich, Coy, and Matt represents Redmond’s commitment to community, empathy, and shared responsibility,” said Redmond Mayor Angela Birney. “I’m incredibly proud we are represented on the national stage by personnel so committed to service that they are willing to be away from their families to help those in desperate need.”
The federal response to Helene and Milton was the third largest mobilization of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) search and rescue resources, behind the responses to Hurricane Katrina and the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The National Response Framework that FEMA operates for disaster response relies heavily on local rescue resources from outside the affected area to function effectively and the Redmond Fire Department provided a significant contribution to this critical disaster response. By deploying personnel to these disasters, Redmond contributes to nationwide resilience and boosts national security.
“This was the widest-spread devastation I have seen from any deployment, including wildfires and other hurricanes,” said Freeman. “However, despite the destruction and years of rebuilding facing them, I am continually amazed at the resilience of people. The power to come together and support one another is astonishing.”
Federal disaster responses test and prove the abilities of our first responders. For the first half of the deployment, Freeman and one other safety officer were responsible for the safety of responders in all of North Carolina and Tennessee. During this time, they oversaw 22 task forces with approximately 1,200 personnel. Freeman’s areas of responsibility included the rural northern counties of North Carolina (Yancey, Mitchell, Avery, Madison, Watauga, and Ashe) and two counties in southern Tennessee (Unicoi and Washington). He worked to prevent an outbreak of norovirus, investigated injury accidents involving task force personnel, coordinated with the regional power company to measure power restoration progress, and drove several hundred miles a day.
Responding to far-away disasters reinforces lessons that apply equally at home.
“Having food and water for your family for at least a week is the backbone to surviving large-scale events like floods or earthquakes,” says Freeman. Redmond’s Office of Emergency Management recommends that all Redmond residents prepare for disasters using FEMA’s ready.gov to make a plan and build a kit.
These deployments also provide professional growth and experience opportunities for Redmond personnel that are not reproducible in other settings, improving the ability of the Redmond Fire Department to respond to all hazards. The City of Redmond deeply appreciates its first responders, the work they do to keep our community safe and how they represent Redmond on the regional and national stage.
Freeman traveled to North Carolina on Sept. 27 in response to Helene to serve with the FEMA Incident Support Team (IST) and WA-TF1 (Washington Task Force 1). He spent time in both Florida and North Carolina before returning home on Oct. 18. Gieseke, Morris, and Nelson traveled with WA-TF1 to the affected states on Oct. 5 and returned on Oct. 23. WA-TF1 is one of 28 FEMA urban search and rescue teams. These 80-person teams can travel anywhere in the country with tools and equipment to be fully self-sufficient for the early days of a disaster response. Nine Redmond Fire Department personnel serve on WA-TF1 in a variety of roles. The FEMA IST manages the overall incident, which includes providing operating teams with supplies and assignments and acting as the liaison between the local or state authority and federal urban search and rescue resources.
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