KAUFMAN COUNTY, Texas — A strike team of fire departments from Kaufman County began responding to Van, Texas, for tornado recovery efforts through the Texas Intrastate Fire Mutual Aid System (TIFMAS) on Monday and Tuesday.
KAUFMAN COUNTY, Texas — A strike team of fire departments from Kaufman County began responding to Van, Texas, for tornado recovery efforts through the Texas Intrastate Fire Mutual Aid System (TIFMAS) on Monday and Tuesday.
Monday, a team comprised of support units from the College Mound Volunteer Fire Department, Kaufman Fire Department, and the Forney Fire Department were deployed to Van. Tuesday, that team was relieved by members of the Terrell Volunteer Fire Department, Mabank Volunteer Fire Department, and the Kaufman Fire Department — each working 12-hour shifts.
The strike team’s primary duty will be, among other things, fire watch as utility companies begin restoring power to the Van area which was struck by an EF-3 tornado on Sunday night — killing two people and injuring dozens. The teams were stationed at the Van Fire Station and took all emergency calls for the department.
A National Weather Service survey team indicated the tornado was an EF-3 with winds of 135 to 140 miles per hour. Governor Gregg Abbott declared Van Zandt County a disaster area.
In a Tuesday morning press conference, Van Zandt County Fire Marshal Chuck Allen estimated the path of the tornado was 9.9 miles long and 700 yards wide.
On Wednesday night, Kaufman County Precinct 2 Constable Jason Johnson and two deputies from his office traveled to Van for security duty overnight to prevent any looting and general patrol of the disaster area.
"Several years ago when we had a tornado in Forney, several fire departments came and helped us out,” Forney Fire Department Fire Marshal John Holcomb told inForney.com. “Now it’s our turn to help out our fire service brothers and the community of Van.”
