Ten Ida firefighters go to New York
Ten Ida Township Volunteer Fire Department members left for New York to serve as volunteers on Thursday, Sept. 13 at around noon. They got back Sunday night, Sept. 16.

The firemen attended the Monroe County Firefighters Association meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 11 and volunteered to go.

The Ida firemen who helped with the rescue and clean-up operation are: Fire Chief Ed Wertenberger, Assistant Fire Chief Troy Stein, Randy Stanifer and his son Curtis, Rocky Obserski, Curtis DuRocher, Mark Mruzek, Dale Longnecker, Scott DuCharme, and Carl Arnold.

“We didn’t get to stay out there as long as we figured,” said Fire Chief Wertenberger. “They have tightened security in the area, and a lot of federal people and the National Guard have arrived. Every day they get more and more organized.”

He added, “When FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency] first got there, they gave us passes, and then the next day the feds took over and our passes were no good.”

Chief Wertenberger said he made up his mind to go after attending the county firefighters’ meeting. He said more from Ida wanted to go, but they couldn’t take the entire department.

His wife Sandy said, “They said they wanted to help out. When the Comair plane crash happened here, different departments came and helped them. They are a team; they stick together. They say they are all brothers and I guess they are.”

Chief Wertenberger said that some of the local firefighters got to help at “Ground Zero,” and some didn’t. A couple of Monroe firefighters sat in a building nearby and sprayed water on smoldering rubble all day.

“It rained Thursday night. That turned the dust into mud but on Friday, we didn’t see remnants of any dust, but there were particles in the air and all workers are still wearing goggles and masks,” he said.
He continued, “We were comparing buildings out there. The hotel we stayed in was 60 stories and looking up there, it was hard to imagine 110 stories— and then we looked at the pile.”

Chief Wertenberger said the area is devastated for blocks around. “The nearby buildings all have their windows knocked out, and bricks. One had a beam sticking through it like someone just threw the beam into it. It’s pretty amazing down there.”

He added that there is still a lot of work to do. Clean up crews had a bucket bridgade set up, scooping up rubble in their hands and putting them into buckets which were passed down, dumped, and brought back up empty. He said that in addition to looking for survivors and bodies, they also are looking for evidence.

Chief Wertenberger said he felt a little funny about all the attention the Ida firefighters have been getting.

“We didn’t do this for publicity,” he said. “We just went all on our own. We weren’t after that. We took some donations to pay for the gas and are sending the rest to the fire department out there for the families— they’re the ones that need it. Later on, they will need help with the clean up and will give us a call. A lot of people in the county firefighters’ association want to go.”

He also wanted people to know that more supplies aren’t needed.

“We took a whole pick-up truck full of water, because at first, that’s what they needed. But when we got there, they said they had enough to float a ship. They have everything they need; don’t need anything more,” he said.

Dundee firefighters also volunteered to go to New York, and are on standby.

Dundee Township Volunteer Fire Department Chief Dan Motylinski said, “There were 13 of them who volunteered to go.”

He added, “If they get called up, I will allow about six to go at a time; we can’t afford to lose more than that or we will be short-handed here.

Chief Motylinski concluded, “They are trying to spread out the calling for volunteers, because this cleanup is going to be a long process.”