Latest from ER Fire Chief Mike Williams

Photo courtesy of Mike Williams

Here’s the latest from ER Fire Chief Mike Williams in effort to aid the people in Houston, Texas who’ve been hit hard by Hurricane Harvey.

Saturday, Sept. 2, 4 p.m. EDT: “A little update with a positive note, We have got mixed up twice on location suppose to be at. However for some reason God put us at this location and we just rescued two people in swift water. Amazing!!!!”

Chief Williams: “Day two in Houston. We have been assigned to deep water evacuation. Two and three story buildings. Weather prediction water not going down in this area for at least two weeks. This is a large area with more than 4500 residents.”

East Ridge Fire Chief Mike Williams said Friday that the six first responders from our area helping with the Harvey relief in Texas are on the move.

He communicated the following to East Ridge News Online: “Noon update; our strike team of 100-plus have teamed up with Texas Task Force 1&2. Looks as if we will be moving tonight or tomorrow with our new Texas family to Houston. Of course this could change. We have seen many changes in direction and orders. We are currently in Wharton Texas. This is southwest of Houston.”

Chief Williams along with Firefighter Chris Peters left with four other first responders from Bradley County Fire and Rescue and Dallas Bay Fire and Rescue, Wednesday morning.

East Ridge News Online will continue to post updates from Chief Williams and his crew as they become available.

About Dick Cook

Dick Cook has lived in East Ridge since the Kennedy Administration when his parents bought a house on Marietta Street. Dick graduated from ERHS in 1976 before going on to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga where he studied Political Science. Dick worked for the Chattanooga Free-Press and the Chattanooga Times Free Press for 22 years. Free-Press Sports Editor Roy Exum plucked him out of production in 1989 and gave him a job as a sports reporter. Dick covered everything from prep sports to the whitewater events on the Ocoee River for the 1996 Olympics. When Chattanooga's two paper's merged, he became the Crime Reporter covering both the Chattanooga Police and Fire Departments. He was among reporters who were honored by the Associated Press for the TFP's coverage of the 2002 fog-shrouded crash on I-75 in Catoosa County, Dick and his wife, Cathy, live on Marlboro Avenue where they are seen frequently chasing around their three grandsons.