Army of volunteers put N.O. firefighters back in firehouses

http://www.homeland1.com/business-continuity/articles/586477-Army-of-volunteers-put-N-O-firefighters-back-in-firehouses/

Gerry Crimmins, a stocky, bald-headed carpenter from New York City, has traveled to New Orleans 24 times since 2007.

It hasn't been to party or gamble, though. It has been to direct a massive carpentry mission that saw 200 skilled union volunteers from New York and Louisiana donate 8,000 hours to restoring half of the 22 firehouses the New Orleans Fire Department lost during the 2005 Katrina flood.

On Thursday, the work of Crimmins and fellow volunteers was finished. Firefighting officials offered thanks, loudly applauding them in the truck bay at Engine 7, a large building across from the Municipal Auditorium that took dozens of volunteers multiple trips to rebuild.

Crimmins, a member of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America and the New York City District Council of Carpenters, was moved to action in the fall of 2006, when he visited his son at Loyola University. The level of devastation he saw stunned him.

--- Carpenters scattered ---

Determined to apply his trade skills to the storm recovery, Crimmins visited a New Orleans carpentry training school. But the flood had wiped it out, and its members -- many of whom lost their homes -- were scattered across the country. They weren't in a position to organize a volunteer rebuilding effort.

When Crimmins flew home, he heard about how a firefighter foundation started by "Rescue Me" star Denis Leary had donated 15 aluminum rescue boats to supplant the personal crafts New Orleans firefighters used to rescue people after Hurricane Katrina -- even after many of the firefighters had lost their own homes and possessions.

With 22 of the NOFD's 33 firehouses knocked out by the storm, the foundation wanted to help finance the rebuilding of as many as possible.

Crimmins said New Orleans residents were among many who helped stunned New Yorkers cope and recover from the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He sensed an opportunity to pay them back and fired off an e-mail to the Leary Firefighters Foundation, offering his skills and those of his fellow union members.

Angela Coyle, who managed the project for Leary's foundation, responded enthusiastically. She phoned him, told him to get to work and pledged to coordinate the effort.

Crimmins began recruiting fellow union carpenters who would need to pay their way to New Orleans and work during their vacation time. Hundreds answered the call. Fellow members sought donations of money and materials from New York companies, and pitched in money of their own.