Minnesota Firefighters Heading to Louisiana To Help in Hurricane Clean-up

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Firefighters from several departments here in Minnesota are heading south to Louisiana to help in the Hurricane Ida clean-up effort.

It's a fairly safe bet that the Land of 10,000 Lakes hasn't ever been directly affected by a hurricane, right? I mean, sure, there have been times when we may have experienced some extended rainfall or had our weather otherwise affected by those massive storms to our south and east, but living where we do means we don't have to worry about a direct hit from a tropical storm or hurricane.

That's, of course, not the case for states in the south, in and along the Gulf and East Coasts, however. And now, a group of 22 firefighters from here in Minnesota are on their way down to Lousiana to help in the continuing clean-up from Hurricane Ida.

According to a release from Gov. Walz, 22 firefighters from nine Minnesota fire departments were deployed Wednesday to help in the clean-up effort, through a request from the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC), s a mutual aid agreement between all 50 states.

"When disaster hits, Minnesotans have always stepped up to help out their neighbors," Governor Walz said in the statement. "Hurricane Ida has devastated homes, businesses, and communities in Louisiana. I am proud that Minnesota firefighters have answered the call to aid Louisiana in their efforts to keep people safe after the storm."

The release went on to say that firefighters from Eden Prairie, Plymouth, the West Metro Fire District, the Centennial Fire District, the Spring Lake Park/Blaine Mounds View (SBM) Fire District, Red Wing, Chaska, Brainerd, and Crosslake are all heading south to provide fire protection for 18 days while local firefighters in Lousiana get rest and tend to their own damaged homes.

This isn't the first time Minnesota fire crews have been called in to help with an EMAC request for assistance. Crews also helped in August, when a team was sent to Washington to help combat wildfires raging in the Pacific Northwest.

Of course, even though we don't have hurricanes to contend with, our weather here in Minnesota can certainly be rough at times. Keep scrolling to check out the most damaging weather events we've experienced here!

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