KAREN VIBERT-KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette A 2000 American La France model fire engine parked at Hepburn Township Volunteer Fire Department along Route 973 East, will be donated to a community in western North Carolina whose firefighters had their apparatus destroyed in devastating flooding caused by Hurricane Helene.

Two volunteer fire departments are doing their part in assisting fellow firefighters who lost equipment in Hurricane Helene floods in North Carolina.

The Hepburn Township Volunteer Fire Department will donate its 2000 model fire truck that will be loaded up with equipment provided by Picture Rocks Volunteer Fire Department and the trip will take place next week to a flood-ravaged community in western North Carolina destroyed by Helene flooding.

Hepburn Township Volunteer Fire Department members held a meeting Monday and decided to donate the fire truck, so that firefighters in Yancey County, North Carolina, specifically Burnsville, N.C., which suffered destruction from flooding can at the very least respond to emergencies and structure fires, according to Chief Nathan Confer of the Hepburn Township Volunteer Fire Department on Route 973 East. The department has a new engine, which was purchased in the spring, Confer said.

The idea to donate the fire truck came about as Hepburn Township Supervisor Heath Heller organized a collection drive of life saving materials collected throughout the region and driven down there in four tractor trailers.

The fire marshal in North Carolina, assessing losses, said at least four to five fire departments in Yancey County lost everything in the flooding and at least a dozen fire departments and companies in that flood zone lost at least one piece of critical apparatus, Confer said.

Ground Shaker will transport the engine to the disaster zone, Confer said. The engine holds about 1,000 gallons of water and has a pump and 1,000 foot of 5-inch hoseline. Equipment donated by Picture Rocks’ department included pick head axes, Halligan bars, a TNT tool, a Pike Please thermal imaging camera, 800 feet of 1 and ¾ inch hose, deck gun, forestry rakes and nozzles, according to Picture Rocks Volunteer Fire Department Chief Al Little. The extra equipment will be put onto the engine for the trip. A mechanic at Glick Fire Equipment Co. in Mill Hall will work on the engine’s electrical system on his off time, Confer said.

But the horrific images of destruction of washed out towns, roads, bridges, businesses and private residences are seen by millions but, as Confer agreed, it is often the last thing on people’s minds about the loss of fire departments and what it means to the residents in need.

Hepburn Township Volunteer Fire Department also provided temporary emergency shelter for victims of the remnants of Tropical Storm Debby flooding in Trout Run and the area north of Williamsport.

Ahead of the trip, Old Lycoming Township Volunteer Fire Department personnel were also considering donating equipment and would meet early next week to make that decision, Confer said. The trip by Ground Shaker is expected to leave Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, and most likely, because of the urgency, Tuesday, he said.