A Fond du Lac Fire Lieutenant has returned home after assisting and searching for victims following Hurricane Helene. Lieutenant Shawn Kneeland was part of Wisconsin’s 16 member Urban Search and Rescue Task Force known as Wisconsin Task Force 1. Kneeland says the unit was stationed in North Carolina about 45 minutes west of Ashville. Kneeland says the Task Force’s mission was to search for people still missing… close to 15 hundred people who were unaccounted for. “Complete devastation. Pictures and words can’t do it justice,” Kneeland told WFDL news. “Bridges and roads completely washed out, 200 year old oak trees pulled out of the ground and thrown into the river like they were toothpicks.” Kneeland says flash flooding resulted in the water level rising as much as 15 feet in some areas. He says its a deadly reminder about having an emergency plan in place before a natural disaster strikes. The task force is comprised of eight fire departments including Fond du Lac Fire and Rescue.
