Task Force 10 reflects on rescue efforts in western North Carolina

GREENVILLE, N.C. (WITN) – A team of eastern Carolina first responders are reflecting on their humbling experience in the western part of the state, as homes and lives were forever transformed by Tropical Storm Helene.

North Carolina knows all too well the impacts of natural disasters. Teams like NC Task Force 10, which is made up of first responders from Greenville and New Bern’s Fire/Rescue departments, also know distance doesn’t matter when it comes to helping fellow North Carolinians out.

After thirteen days of extensive search and rescue efforts were made on land, on mountains and through coursing waters, the 20 members of NC Task Force 10 made it home on October 8, changed and humbled by the experience.

“When you get a chance to slow down and relax and understand what people have lost, that does start taking a toll on you,” said Capt. Brad Johnston.

The team helped with emergency operations and life-saving missions in Polk, Rutherford and McDowell counties.

Capt. Brad Johnston from Greenville Fire and Rescue looked back on his team’s work, saying one challenge they encountered was western North Carolina’s terrain.

“We’re very familiar with a lot of flood water in eastern North Carolina, but we weren’t very familiar with mudslides,” said Johnston. “That’s what we encountered at the beginning of navigating through mudslides and then navigating on mountain roads.”

The task force teamed up with several fire and rescue departments from North Carolina and beyond to rescue, evacuate and search for people trapped by the storm’s devastation including some that helped in eastern North Carolina when Florence hit in 2018.

“Florence hit New Bern years ago, and for us, we had so many outside units come help us out,” said Capt. Stephen Jasset. “So for us to go to the western part of the state to help them out it was kind of rewarding for the rescuers to be able to give that back.”

A full circle moment of help repaid, as the mission to aid others continues in western North Carolina.

The task force said they were able to assist four people, evacuate eleven and rescue four individuals. They also were called to more than 30 shelter-in-place missions to make sure people who stayed in their homes were safe.

According to Governor Roy Cooper’s office, more than 1,600 responders from 38 state and local agencies conducted missions in the western part of the state in the wake of Helene’s devastation.

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