EVANSVILLE, Wis. – Residents are stepping up to help one another after tornadoes hit Rock County last week.

What You Need To Know

  • Two tornadoes hit southern Wisconsin on Thursday 

  • The all-volunteer Evansville Fire District confirmed every resident was safe 

  • So many people have brought donations, firefighters don't need any more 

There are almost 40 volunteers for the Evansville Fire District. They were paying close attention to the forecast and warnings as they came out on Thursday.

“From start to finish, this is probably the biggest thing that I can remember in my 40 years,” said current fire inspector Dennis Cooper.

Cooper was a volunteer firefighter for decades before retiring to become the fire inspector.

“I haven’t had to deal with anything like this of this magnitude, ever,” said assistant fire chief Jamie Larson. “In the middle of winter, you’re not ready to deal with tornadoes.”

The team of firefighters, coordinating with Rock County Emergency Management, made plans to check on all residents whose property was hit. They said they had spoken with all of them by early Friday morning.

“Communications were down, cell phones weren’t working, so we had to go door to door to make sure everybody was safe,” Larson said.

Cooper said it was an exhausting process for first responders, especially when many of them have other full-time jobs. With Cooper’s experience, he was able to step in to give them a break.

“All the firefighters here, they’re just drained,” Cooper said. “When you volunteer on a fire department, you don’t ever want to leave. You‘re going to volunteer and stay here for 20 hours straight. I had to actually come in here and say, ‘All you guys go home; I’ll watch the show for a while’.”

After ensuring everyone was safe, firefighters began collecting donations for residents. The fire station became a hub for people to drop off water, food and clothes. Firefighters loaded up a pickup truck and brought the supplies directly to people who needed them.

“A lot of people say we have a divided country,” Cooper said. “But I’d say in the last three days, we’ve had a united Rock County.”

The phone is still ringing a couple times an hour as people call and ask how they can help. However, firefighters said they have enough supplies. They’re now looking into starting a donation account at a local bank.

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