Firefighters Honored For Tornado Response Contributions

Operations Deputy Chief Rick Boatwright, Assistant Chief William Andrews, Captain Brad Freeman and Lt. Jack Thompson have been recognized by the Chattanooga Police Department for the roles they played on the joint Incident Management Team following the deadly Easter 2020 tornado. From rescue and recovery operations to securing resources, there were so many things they helped with behind-the-scenes to make a difference and an impact. Here’s just some of what they accomplished for their community:

Found ways for resources and responders to get to areas where emergency vehicles and fire trucks couldn’t go.
Made sure the TN Mental Health Strike Team was deployed to help every citizen in the city and county impacted by the tornado.
Coordinated damage assessments on every structure for TEMA and FEMA, working with the City’s Office of Performance Management and Open Data. This created detailed mapping of damaged areas and sped up the process for federal disaster relief.
Worked with agencies to provide thousands of meals to residents and first responders.
Managed roadways to open them for crews.
Contacted companies to provide cell phone and internet service (children were doing their school work from home at that time due to the pandemic).
Ensured that the hardest hit neighborhoods still had an adequate water supply.
Coordinated with many different agencies to help put the put the pieces back together.

The group would like to thank everyone who assisted them and citizens at that time.