Californian Firefighters Return Home After Hurricane Florence

They are willing to risk anything for a life.

The 16 firefighters who spent two weeks helping Hurricane Florence victims are now home. 

They said the conditions were different from what they train for.

Although, they went knowing their skills in swift water rescue were needed, there were heartbreaking moments in North Carolina where they heard calls but unfortunately, couldn't get to them.

"We heard these calls go down and we just kept pleading with partner with can we get there? No we can't. Too flooded out, couldn't cross those areas," says Craig Covey, Chief for California Task Force 5.

Covey says that the place where they were operating at got turned into ten islands and they were on one of them.

As a team, they rescued seven people, saving lives and taking others to hospitals that had been built just for this purpose. However, more than 40 people died across three states.

For firefighter Dickens Tai, coming home reminds him of the treasures he had waiting for him at home—his son, and a daughter; perhaps, too young to comprehend their father as a hero.

Tai also says that, to him, it wasn't about the cold water, but rather having to hold on in a current with no help anywhere in sight.

"This is what we are here for, willing to risk anything for a life," says Tai.

And as their motto says, "Risk a little to save a little. Risk a lot to save a lot."

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